


A New Beginning

by PcolaTy



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:54:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28659801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PcolaTy/pseuds/PcolaTy
Summary: V never thought he'd find love, or even leave Night City for that matter; however, after an impossible gig turns into disaster, he is no longer the V who had all those dreams of going down in a blaze of glory. Now, he just wants to live, and with Panam Palmer at his side, he is determined to not screw it up. Panam x V.
Relationships: Panam Palmer/Male V
Comments: 32
Kudos: 88





	1. A new beginning

**Authors note:** I'd like to start off and say thank you to those of you who decided to at least click on this. While playing through CP2077, I quickly grew a liking to Panam and she quickly became one of my favorite characters apart from Johnny and Jackie that is. I was so disappointed that her entire character arc was relatively short and started having ideas on expanding that. I also wanted to apologize in advance for any grammar or phrasing mistakes as while I may have good ideas for stories, actually writing them down can be difficult for me.

Thank you.

* * *

**A new beginning**

Nearly a year ago to this very day I entered Night City with a dream to be the best and baddest motherfucker to even live in Night City; that dream though would die in the ensuing months. It all started out as a smuggling gig right after the Bakker's feel apart and I was contacted by a mutual friend who told me of a client who needed a driver. In an ironic twist of fate, that client was Jackie Welles, and he was the man who helped me get settled in Night City; even speaking to his mother and letting me stay with them until I could get an apartment. Our relationship eventually evolved into that of brothers, which made it even worse when he died on that god forsaken day. After his death, I felt completely alone, afraid, and forsaken for the first time in months. That was until I met both Panam and Johnny fucking Silverhand, both saving me in their own unique way. Without Panam's love and support, I never would have made it as far as I did, and without Johnny Silverhand, I would have continued the self-destructive path of no return. Panam was the rock and foundation that I needed and in an ironic twist of fate; it was the same with her. We both helped build each other up from our lowest point in our lives and feel in love; I guess being two lonely nomads on the road will do that to you. Honestly, I think the moment I knew I was in love with her was when we were waiting to steal a Basilisk, I offered up a toat to Scorpion who unfortunately lost his life not that long ago, and she did a toast for Jackie, and at that moment, I knew that my days of being alone were over. Silverhand on the other hand changed me for the better; giving me the courage to never stop fighting and wising me up so that I would not follow in his footsteps. Looking back over the past year, I'm glad that things worked out the way they did as without the events playing out; it's quite possible I would never have met Panam or Johnny.

Panam and I agreed that it would be in our best interest to stop for the night to get a bit of relaxation and some rest, before continuing the next day to meet up with the rest of the Aldecaldos. While the Basilisk is an impressive vehicle, it lacks in one important category: crew comfort. I glanced over at Panam to see her lounging about on the bedding we had brought; completely nude and looking at me with a very seductive grin on her face.

"You know V, I seem to remember the only time we had sex before was in the Basilisk, and while it was amazing, I think having more room would make it so much better." She said as she beckoned me over to her.

"Yep; think you are right. Before we start though, I have a quick question." I said as I laid down beside her and placed a hand on her thigh.

"Shoot"

"When we were fucking in the Basilisk and our minds were linked, did you happen to hear Johnny talking shit about me?"

"Not really, but now that you mention it; what was he saying" She asked with a shit eating grin forming.

"Ah, not really important." I said as I started to stroke her thigh and noticing that she was getting aroused.

"No V; I really want to know, and you know I'll use anything in my power to get what I want, and in this particular case, even my body" She said seductively as she wrapped her legs around me waist; my god why did she have to be curvy, and persistent at the same time. Seeing as she would not relent, I had to swallow my pride, and explain to her how Johnny and I would make fun of each other, and when she and I fucked in the Basilisk was no different.

 **"Wow; talk about being blown away, and here I had you pegged as either being gay or a monk, or possibly both, a gay monk. Never thought in a million years you'd manage to get a woman to fuck you; hell, even look at you like that for that matter. Once you finish, the cigarettes and booze are on me."** I said as I put on my best Johnny Silverhand impersonation. It was all worth it though; to see her face light up like that and to hear her laughter.

"Well lover boy; care to prove Johnny wrong yet again." She purred into my ear while slapping my ass; this night would be one to remember for years to come. Sleeping outside with nothing but a tarp, combined sleeping bags, and a nice quilt, and fucking my lover under the moonlight would make it even more special. Normally we’d go about with a bit of foreplay first but seeing as Panam was already turned on we decided to get straight to the action. Placing my hands on her shoulders, I gently guided Panam to the bedding that we had laid out for the night and eased her into position. Tracing the curvature of her body, I soon found myself fondling her breasts which elicited a moan from her and soon I found myself pinching her nipples which caused her to shudder in pleasure. Looking over the goddess that lay before me, I could not help but be mesmerized by her body; though this wasn’t lost on her and she adjusted herself to be in a more erotic position. As I continued to message Panam’s breasts, she grabbed one of my hands and guided it down to her thigh which I quickly squeezed with vigour. Moving my hand up slightly, I soon found myself spreading Panam’s folds and taking in her wetness, no doubt she was extremely aroused by this point and looked like she could squirt at any minute now. Taking advantage of the situation, I placed my mouth at the entrance of her vagina and started eating her out, the result being her first orgasm of the night.

“I want your cock inside of me NOW!!!” Panam shouted as she jumped me and soon my cock was at her fold which elicated a suppressed moan from her. Guiding myself into her, I just couldn’t help but notice that this felt even better than being in the Basilisk; hell, Panam even rolled us over and started riding me. As she continued to rid me and her core started to contract around me, I felt my first orgasm soon approaching, not surprising seeing as even though I did have urges when I was a Merc, I still wanted to wait for the right person. Something that neither Jackie nor Johnny understood. As Panam started to speed up, I could feel that I was near my breaking point.

"Shit Panam; I'm at my limit." I said as I frantically tried to maintain my composure.

"Inside of me V; I want it, all of it." Cumming inside of Panam is without a doubt the best experience I have ever had; particularly seeing as the last time we had sex it was interrupted by the Wraiths. There was also something that captivated me quite a bit as I watched Panam smile as she slowly traced her hands around her belly.

"Good night Panam; love you." I said as she turned her body in towards me while snuggling as close as she could. As I pulled the quilt over us to keep the chilly desert air off our nude forms, and with our bodies sharing heat; there was nothing in the world that could be even more perfect than this. The feeling of her breast against mine, the slight rise and fall of her chest as she breathes and having a hand on her ass as we stared into each other eyes.

"Night V; love you too." She replied and quickly feel asleep and leaving me alone to my thoughts. Gotta admit, I could get used to this; just being under the night sky with her with no sound but the chirping of dragonflies and the rustle of the wind. I also cannot get enough at just how peaceful she looks while sleeping, like the weight of the entire world isn't on her shoulders anymore.

* * *

I awoke to the sweet smell of coffee and breakfast and seeing Panam loading two plates up with food. Getting up, I glanced over at the side of the bedding to find my clothes already laid out for me, something Panam must have done when prepping for us to continue the rest of the journey.

"Damn Panam; breakfast smells delicious; didn't know you could cook." I said as I bit into the eggs that she made; the last of our supplies before reaching the meeting point.

"Thank you, V, figured I'd do something special for you seeing as I had the absolute time of my life last night." She said as she sat down beside me

"I'm glad I was able to satisfy you so much." I said with a smirk and finished the breakfast and coffee. Once we both changed back into our traveling clothes and packed up camp, we boarded the Basilisk and continued the journey to where the rest of the Aldecaldos where waiting for us.

"Hey V; it's Misty. Listen, I decided to pull a few tarot cards and I know that the readings are not as strong without you being here, but I thought you'd like to hear this. I drew the Chariot, the Lovers, and the Sun. Looks like you'll have a good life out there, take care." As the voice mail ended, I couldn't help but tear up and actually broke down for the first time since Jackie's death.

"V?" I heard Panams concerned voice and turned towards her.

"Sorry babe; just got a call from an old friend who likes to read tarot cards. Apparently, she pulled the chariot, the lovers, and the sun; said it looks like my life may be a long and good one." I told her and went into explaining the details of the tarot cards, and what they represent which was a massive relief for her.

"Let's hope that she's right because I don't want to face the world without you at my side V."

"Same; after all the shit that I've gone through, I cannot take on the world without you Panam." I said as I leaned in to give her a kiss, and with the beeping of our on-board navigation, we had finally arrived at the Aldecaldos camp.

"Took you kids long enough; you have fun out there." Mitch said walking up to the Basilisk and assisted us getting out. The nearly four-hour journey from where we camped out the previous night to here while not bad with a decent vehicle was much to be desired while being in a military vehicle. The quality time with Panam though; man, I could really use more of that.

"Shut it Mitch and show us where the bar is." There it is, that sassiness that I feel in love with months ago.

"Sure thing boss; if you two lovebirds will follow me, I'll show you the best bar this family has ever had." Something about the way that Mitch had said that made my heart tingle and glancing over at Panam I could see the blush and light smile form upon her lips, of course she also noticed that I was looking at her and her smile grew brighter. Following the tour that Mitch gave us and grabbing a case of beer from the bar, Panam and I made our way to our tent that was 'conveniently' located right next to her truck and my news Nomad car, of course we still had to remove my Arch from the bed of her truck. Totally surprised me when she told me to bring both as they are very sentimental to my life, and she wanted it to come with us. The car was a pet project that Panam and I worked on when I was camping with the Aldecaldos which also proved a good distraction from Saul and the Arch was once Jackie’s favorite motorcycle. The tent itself wasn't bad at all; the perfect tent in fact for a chief and big enough to fit two people as well as their wardrobe. Two twin size cots were also centered towards the back wall and pushed close enough together to act as a single bed, and with the mattress that I brought with us, we could place it on top of both; absolutely perfect for the nomad lifestyle. Laying the beer case down beside our bed, I took two out and handed one to Panam.

"Here's to a new start Panam, a new beginning." I toasted

"And here's to old friends who are no longer with us physically, but still exist in our hearts." She said as I popped the top for her

"Here's to Jackie, Saul, Johnny, and Scorpion." We both said at the same time while slamming the beer down hard.

"You know; after everything that happened to me, I wouldn't change it for the world. Everything that happened had brought us together and that alone is worth more than anything Night City could even hope to provide." I said as I pulled Panam into an embrace and placing an arm around her shoulder, which she gladly took and scooted closer to where we are touching.

"We made it V, we finally made it." She said while leaning in for a kiss.

"Aye, we did." I said as we started making out and a thought quickly entered my head causing me to chuckle.

"Fuck, guess I need to message Rogue and thank her for getting us together." Panam said as I started laughing at the irony that in a sense, our relationship was encouraged by two failed lovers from long ago.

"What's so funny V?" Panam asked while looking me directly in the eye, curious as to why I started laughing.

"Just a memory I had; remember when we went to rescue Saul?" I asked her and getting a nod of confirmation. "Well, after you kissed me and left; Johnny himself told me that **'if the circumstances were different; I should saddle up and ride after you and not look back**." I explained as I could see her smile forming upon her luscious lips again.

"So, you mean to tell me that even Johnny "Fucking" Silverhand shipped us as well?" She asked and burst out laughing at the irony that while the whole biochip was killing me, Johnny himself in a sense became another voice of reason for me, one that I never really got to thank him for to be honest. Shit, I wish things could had been different where we could have deactivated the biochip but keep his engram on it; I'm gonna miss the guy.

"Yep; pretty much" I said as I wrapped myself around her again for another kiss.

"Well, we better not disappoint him." She said as we went in for round 2 and another very intimate night.

* * *

 **Post note:** I just wanted to thank you for reading to the end of this, and I am currently thinking of turning this into a series maybe; even to the point of where V gets healed though I'd have to figure that out. On another note, with all the trouble that CDPR has gotten into with CP2077; I really hope this doesn't spell the doom for them as that would be the final nail in the coffin for 2020; here's hoping to a better 2021.

Post note 2: This was originally posted on Fanfiction, but figured I’d post it here too so as to be more explicit with the sex scenes; though I do apologize if it wasn’t that great seeing as it is the first true sex scene I have writted. 


	2. First Stops

**Authors note:** Thanks to everyone who left a kudos and possibly a comment on both this chapter as well as the previous one. I am still getting used to how AO3 works in comparison to Fanfiction, though I am quickly coming to prefer how AO3 is set up over Fanfiction, and the more freedom that I have with it in comparison. This may become my main avenue of publishing my stories as well as one shots that I got ideas for, but I will also continue FF.

* * *

Life on the road was something I never believed I would return to, and yet here I am, life had come full circle. Looking back towards Panam and seeing that she was still passed out in bed, I exited our shared tent and went towards the food truck to grab some coffee for both me and Panam; knowing her, she probably would be up in the next ten minutes. One thing that I really enjoyed about waking up early was the fact that most of the Aldecaldos would still be asleep apart from the sentries and some of the old guard like Mitch. Making my way inside the cantina; I found that Mitch was already hard at work planning the next moves that we would need to take. This in of itself was part of the changes that Panam had put into place shortly before we left; basically, allowing the vets of the clan to plan out missions and when ready, to present them to her. As I grabbed my cup of coffee as well as another for Panam; I sat next to Mitch.

“Morning Mitch.” I said as I sat next to Mitch

“Morning V; you sleep alright?” Mitch asked knowing that the past few months had been hell on my psyche due to the biochip.

“Much better than I have in the past five months; feels like the albatross has been removed from my neck.” I said as I took a sip of the coffee.

“That’s good to hear my boy, and how’s Panam taking to being a chef?” Mitch

“She’s stressed the fuck out, but she’ll get used to it, and she has us to turn too if things get hairy.” I said as Mitch nodded in agreement.

“Let’s not forget your contribution to keeping her sane V, and vice versa; really funny to be honest, like you two were made for each other.” Mitch mentioned as he walked over to the counter to get some breakfest

“It’s funny that you mention that, because without her, I don’t think I ever would have made it.” I mentioned as I chuckled a little bit at the irony; that even in the depths of darkness I found her to be the light at the end of my tunnel, and I know she feels the same way.

“Wow V, didn’t even invite me out for some coffee.” The sarcastic tone that belongs to the one and only Panam; wow, figured she’d sleep in a little while longer.

“Got you some coffee; made to your exact specifications.” I winked at her and handed her the coffee cup.

“Thank you, V, and by the way; after breakfast we need to set up our tent. I feel like this area may very well be our camp for a while, and I’d like to make it a bit homier.” Panam said as she pulled one of the cantina chairs to the table to sit next to me.

“Umm, what exactly do you want to do with the tent?” I asked her while she took a sip of her coffee contemplating what exactly we could do.

“Well; firstly, we need to make a spot for your pet cat. Then we need to get some trunks so that we have something to store our cloths and personal weapons in. After that, I would like for us to tune up both my Thorton as well as your car to better suite us.” She said with excitement growing in her voice; just further proof that all the shit that was handed to us for months was nothing more than a memory.

“And afterwards we can go riding in the desert; just the two of us.” I added as I saw her grin grow into a smile; something that she seemed to want to do.

“I’d love that V, and I know just the place that we can go to; it’s an old national park that I think you’d love.” She said as she grabbed my hand.

* * *

After breakfast, Panam and I made our way down to the garage where both our vehicles were being worked on. Panam’s vehicle had much less that needed to be done to it, most of the work going into the engine to give it a tune up while my Mitzuni Shion that I purchased from Dakota Smith required much more extensive repair. Mitch was telling me earlier that it would probably be a good idea to rebuild the engine to get more horsepower as well as increase the reliability; furthermore, I asked them to repaint the car. The paint job itself came out perfect, and with my new motto brazened on both the driver and passenger side door, a customary thing from what Panam was saying; the motto being “Never stop fighting”.

“Hey Panam; you ready to see what this car is capable of?” I asked her as I gave her a slight slap on the ass and getting a slight moan in return.

“Sure, let’s see if she can hold a candle to my Thorton.” She sarcastically said as she regained her composure.

“Excellent, though I should warn you that my car is quite fast, so you may want to buckle in.” I said as I buckled up my restraint as Panam followed suite

“Hey V; what type of car is this?” Panam asked as she rolled the window down to let fresh air into the cabin.

“It’s a Mizutani Shion; quite a quick little beast and pretty comfortable to ride around in.” I said as I pulled out of the camp and headed towards the park that Panam marked in the on-board GPS.

“Hey V; I was just wondering what ever happened to your first nomad vehicle. It’s very rare that a Nomad wouldn’t keep their vehicle due to it being sacred to us; what ever happened to it?” Panam mentioned as I looked at her

“It’s quite a story.” I mentioned as I started telling her my old Thorton Galena “Rattler”.

* * *

**Flashback**

“Well shit, been a damn long while old friend.” I has muttered to myself as out of sheer coincidence I happened upon the junkyard that had my old vehicle. As a sense of nostalgia washed over me, I examined the Rattlers exterior and found it to be worse for the wear, but overall still in relatively tip-top shape. As I did a walkaround I noticed the faint feeling of heat radiating off the hood of the car, and with my interest peaked I popped the hood open. To my surprise, I found that somebody was restoring the car; well, poorly restoring it considering they made several grievous errors, like filling the break fluid reservoir full of water. While the short-term use of water would be fine to get to the city and into a garage, to take it cross-country would-be suicide. As I continued to exam the car, a woman walked out to me demanding to know what I was doing by “her car”.

“Your car? Uh, no, this is my car.” I told her which caused her to get defensive.

“No it isn’t; if it was, than why would you leave it rusting away in a junk yard?” She demanded as she got closer trying to insert herself between me and the car.

“The car had broken down and at the time I was not able to retrieve it.” I said as

“Well, I’ve been working on this car for two weeks now and just got it working. If you truly cared for this car; you’d do anything in your power to get it running.” She stated which got my blood boiling, who did she think she was telling a Nomad how to care for their car; though, by the way she looked, I doubt she’d be able to tell what a nomad was if it bit her in the ass.

“Why do you need the car anyways?” I demanded as she started to back away a little bit realizing that I was visibly upset.

“I need to get out of Night City; leave this place and never look back.” She explained trying to defuse the situation; once she said this my anger started to subside. I understood why she would want to leave and realized that maybe for once, I can show someone the kindness that Jackie and Mama Welles showed me right after I arrived at NC.

“You’ll need to replace the timing chain.” I told her as her face scrunched into a confused look.

“Why?” she asked me with concern growing in her voice.

“Because if you attempt to open the throttle up; the chain is liable to break and you’ll be stranded. Listen, I gotta go meet with a client, but why don’t I give you twenty-thousand eddies so that you can take the car into town and get it repaired before setting off.” I told her as I saw her bewilderment at what I had just said.

“Wait, you mean I can have her, and you’re giving me eddies to repair her?” She asked me and her tone telling me that she was still in shock.

“It’s all yours, and I added a list of what needs to be done to her when you see a mechanic. One, replace the water with actual brake fluid; if you don’t, you’ll find that your brakes no longer work when you need them the most. Two, fix the timing chain and clear the rust out of the engine bay. Three, get a new paint job; if you drive around with Bakker colors, you’re liable to get ambushed by one of our old enemies thinking you were one of us. I don’t think I need to explain what they’d do to you, do I?” I asked her as she nodded in agreement.

“Wait, you mean to tell me you are a Nomad, and this was a Nomad’s car?” She asked me as I nodded before explaining to her the unique relationship between a Nomad and his/her vehicle.

“Former nomad; take good care of that car and she’ll get you to where you need to go.” I told her as she hugged me before hopping into the driver seat and heading into town.

“ **Wow, is it possible that our little nomad here has finally decided to plant roots?”** I heard Johnny say as he appeared next to me.

“Honestly, I don’t think I’d ever join another nomad group again Johnny; gotta make do with Night City.” I told him as we went back to my car and got back on the interstate.

“ **Who was that contact that Rogue has us meeting out here again; Panam Palmer?** ” Johnny asked as he was watching the night sky.

“Yep, she told me to meet her at the rail freight line on Bonita Street.” I mentioned as Johnny light up yet another one of his cigarettes.

“ **You think she’d help us?** ” Johnny asked as he took a puff

“Not entirely sure, but I think if we help her get her merchandise back, she might just be willing to hear me out.” I said as I entered the city outskirts and pulled up to where she and I were supposed to meet at.

“ **I sure hope so V.** ” Johnny said before disappearing and I got out, but boy oh boy were Johnny and I both in for a treat when I saw her bent over and tinkering with her car’s engine. Funnily enough, I must had been standing there for at least a minute staring at her ass before walking up to her, and in the back of my mind I just here Johnny mutter out “ **Damn** ”.

* * *

**Flashback ends**

As I finished my story, I could see that Panam was invested to the point that she seemed almost kinda sad that it was over; quality time like this would be rare, and the more we got out the way now, the easier it would be in the future.

“Wow V, I honestly don’t know what to say; that was a hell of a sacrifice to make. In a sense, the last bit of your old life, you gave away to some stranger without asking anything in return.” Panam said as tears started to form in her eyes.

“Yep, though I do find it kinda ironic that right after that was when we meet for the first time.” I said as I grabbed her hand and cupped her cheek with it; seeing her smile would turn even the gloomiest days into a bright day.

“Funny you mention that; I remember feeling you staring at my ass for a bit before actually walking up to me; tell me, did you like what you saw?” She seductively asked me as she lowered my hand from her cheek to her thigh.

“Oh yeah, and you still captivate me; though it is nice to finally be able to touch your ass without fear of risking your wrath.” I joked with her as she burst out laughing and adding her two eddies in as well.

“Yeah; I think if you’d pull that shit off when we first me, I would have beaten you senseless.” She said as she tried to suppress her laughter.

“I just thought of something; this park we are going to, doesn’t it have a hotel nearby?” I asked Panam as she pulled up the GPS and noticed that ten minutes east was a small town.

“Better yet V, it’s got a small town. I think we could use this to our advantage and get some contacts to spread the Aldecaldo’s influence.” She said as the cogs in her brain started turning; gotta admit it would be great to have a hotel room to sleep in for a change, and a nice shower to go along with that.

“How much further to the town?” I asked her as she looked it up.

“About ten minutes and the name of the town is Tusayan.” She told me as she flicked me the deets so that I could change course.

“According to this, there is a small hotel that we can rent a room in for a few nights; kinda cheap too.” I told her as she thought it over; while it did suck that we would be away from the camp for a few days, I figure that Mitch could hold everything down and we could get some preem information on the surrounding area which would benefit the family greatly.

“Sounds like a plan V; let’s head to this hotel and get a room.” Panam said as she looked out over the arid landscape.

* * *

To say this town is tiny would be an understatement; judging by the looks of it, I’d wager that the total population must have been less than ten thousand. A far cry from Night City which was huge; though looking back on it, even being in a crowd somehow felt lonely. As I pulled into the parking lot of the hotel that Panam had put into the car’s GPS, I noticed that there were quite a few other nomads here as well. As we were walking through the parking lot and I was taking in the clan colors that happened to be here, I noticed something peculiar; my old car happened to be here as well, though sporting a new red paint job. I didn’t mention it of course as I figured the woman who has it now must be resting here before continuing on her journey, but boy oh boy was things about to get interesting. As we entered the lobby, I noticed that same girl that I gave the car to all those months back was behind the receptionist counter; guess she must had gotten a job here and settled.

“Welcome to the tumbleweed hotel, oh my, it’s you.” She said as she instantly recognized me and Panam giving a concerned look. Taking a good look at the young woman infront of me, something felt oddly familiar about her, but I couldn’t put my finger on it; however, it soon dawned on me that this was the same woman that I met back in NC who now had my Rattler. Gotta admit it is good to see her safe and sound; though now I am curious as to what she is doing her, and what her name was as well.

“Hey Lana; I’m surprised to see you here. Was this the place you were heading to?” I asked her as she walked up to greet me.

“Aye; my parents own this hotel and told me to come stay here after I left Night City. Say, what brings you here, and who is this?”

“Well; a portion of my job was finally finished, and I decided to leave NC for good and this is my girlfriend; Panam.” I told her as both Panam and Lana shook hands. 

“V; who is she?” Panam asked me.

“Panam, this is that woman I was telling you about; the one that I gave my old car to.” I told her as Panam’s eyes went as wide as saucers, no doubt this was just as bewildering to her as it was to me.

“Anyways; what brings you’ll here?” Lana asked me and Panam told her that we had come not only to visit the town and see if we could get some contacts going with the local fixers.

“Guess you will be here for a while; listen, I’ll speak to my parents and see if we can arrange a free room for you two.” Lana told us as she walked into her parent’s office.

“Damn; never thought I’d see her again.” I said as Panam silently agreed with me, and within minutes both her parents had come out to meet us.

“You must the man that our daughter told us about; I must say it is finally good to meet you.” The father said as he shook my hand.

“And as a small token of our gratitude for giving our daughter a fighting chance; we would like to allow you to stay a few nights for free.” Lana’s mother added as she handed Panam a keycard.

“You really don’t have to do this; we can pay you the fee.” Panam and I said at the same time but were kindly rejected by Lana’s parents.

“Nonsense; three days’ worth of rent is inconsequential to our daughter’s life, and thanks to you sir, you have given her something that money cannot buy. Once you are settled in, come to my office and we can talk business.” Viktor said as showed us to the room. After we went inside, we were surprised at how nice the room was; must be worth at least five-hundred eddies a night, but best of all, there is a shower that was calling our name on it.

“I’m going to take a shower V.” Panam told me as I sat down on the bed and took my shoes off, as I heard her turn the water on; I figured I’d join her in the shower.

“Panam, you want some company?” I spoke into her ear which caused a little whimper to escape her lips.

“I was hoping you would.” Panam said as she gave her ass a little wiggle to beckon me to join her and without a moment’s thought I immediately jumped in with her, to bad I still had my clothes on.

“Ah, you gotta be shitting me!” I said as I jumped right back out with Panam laughing at my expense; though I’d do the same if I saw that happen to someone else.

“A little too excited, aren’t we V.” Panam teasingly said as she winked at me and I rejoined her after removing my damp clothing. Showering together become a tradition not to long after the whole Mikoshi ordeal; we were too exhausted to return to the Aldecaldo camp, so we ended up staying at my apartment that night before leaving the next day to rejoin the Aldecaldos. As I entered the shower, Panam pushed her ass straight into my crotch and looked at me with a mischievous grin on her face, one that told me I’m gonna fuck you right here and right now. Placing my hands on Panam’s shoulders, she turned her body so that we were facing each other. As I turned the water off; I picked her up and carried her to the bed where we would end up spending the rest of the night.

“V, can I ask you a really important question?” Hearing Panam say that with quite a bit of worry in her voice, I stopped exploring her body and looked her straight in the eyes; there I could see fear and uncertainty which worried me greatly.

“Anything Panam.” I said as I cupped her face to ease her

“it’s just I’m afraid that I’d cock this all up and you won’t wanna be with me anymore.” She said in a low tone.

“You know nothing you can say is going to change how I fell about you.” I told her attempting to reassure

“V, I want a baby.” There was the thing that had Panam frightened and I could understand.

“I’d love to have a child with you Panam as long as you’d be willing to take me as a husband.” I told her and I could see her eyes turn as big as saucers and tears starting to form; it’s actually kind of funny too with how she likes to act tough and childish at times, she has a heart of gold.

“Oh V, get your ass on top of me and fill me up.” She said as she pulled me down onto her and the rest of the night was filled with passionate sex followed by the deepest and most restful sleep I ever got.

* * *

**Dream**

I rarely dreamed, but when I normally do it is always nightmares; however, this time it was different. It looked like it could have been in another life, one that I all so desperately desired had fate not reared its ugly head. As I looked around, I immediately recognized this place as being the home of Jackie Welle’s mother, and I was sitting at a table with Jackie and his mother; the odd thing though was that Panam was sitting at my side, her belly swollen, pregnant no doubt.

“Uncle Jackie, Uncle Jackie.” I heard a child say with glee as his sister soon followed suite and climbed onto Jackie’s other leg.

“Sorry V, these two little tykes took me for a wild goose chase.” I heard Misty say as she entered the living room.

“Hey there, my little Choombas; you’ll been acting good for your parents?” I heard Jackie ask as he picked the little girl up and her laughter filling the room, soon the little boy started to pout before Mama Welles picked him up as well. The twins were something else, the boy being much of a carbon copy of myself and girl being a carbon copy of Panam. The interesting thing that I saw though was the Aldecaldos jacket that I was wearing and Panam and Misty having a conversation of their own; if I had to guess, mostly centered around Panam’s pregnancy.

“How’s life been treating you on the road mi Hermano.” Jackie asked as he bounced the little girl on his leg, and we were enjoying a beer.

“It’s been pretty good; though Panam’s pregnancy can be difficult at times.” I said as the little girl asked to be let down, which Jackie obliged her so that she could play with her brother.

As I continued to watch the scene unfold before me, I got the most rude interruption that I could imagine, the fucking alarm clock, and with that the dream was over; much to my ire.

* * *

Post note: While this chapter is similar to the one I posted on FF, I decided to expand it out quite a bit for some new ideas I had.


	3. First Contract

**Authors note:** I just wanted to thank everyone who has read, commented and liked this story as I never expected it to be as received as it has on bothe AO3 and FF.

* * *

**First Contract**

**Tusayan Arizona**

**0530 Hours**

**September 5, 2077**

I awoke earlier than normal; kind of strange but nothing compared to the strangeness that had happened to me these past few months, as I rolled over to see Panam still fast asleep, I gave her a light kiss before getting out of bed. After getting dressed, I decided that seeing as we were in civilization again, I would check through my voice messages, and lo and behold I had messages from Mama Welles, Kerry, Dr. Viktor, and Judy. As I listened to them, Mama Welles was not to happy about me being with the Aldecaldos; though I couldn’t blame her after the whole drama with Jackie. Judy on the other hand seemed to be doing well after she left NC and I decided to call her up seeing as the last time I spoke to her was right before she left. Figuring this would be a good enough time as any, I decided to call her up.

“Judy here.”

“Hey Jud, it’s V.” I said as I heard her get excited.

“V; damn, haven’t heard from you in quite some time; tell me, still enjoying NC?” Judy asked me as I took a seat at the bar.

“Actually, I’m not in NC anymore; I’m currently in beautiful Arizona where the air is much cleaner, and you can actually see the stars.”

“Wow, never thought you’d leave NC; tell me, what convinced you to finally leave that hell hole?”

“Same reason as you I suppose; after Jackie died, I became depressed and it only got worse when I found out the Relic was killing me. To be honest, I was at wits end when I ended up falling in love with a woman whom I’m now traveling with; if we never crossed paths, no telling what would have happened. It also didn’t help that not only did she go out of her way to help me, but she is smoking hot as well.” I explained as

“Oh, who is this woman V; you gotta tell me.” Judy said as she got a giddy as a schoolgirl.

“Her name is Panam, and we both are riding with a nomad group; kinda funny how I went to NC after my former nomad clan disbanded, and then I leave with another.”

“Damn V; I’m glad you finally found yourself somebody to share life with. Anyways, how’s the whole relic business treating you; Johnny still being an asshole?” Judy said as my mood soured at the thought of Johnny.

“It’s a really long story, but in the end Johnny and I became almost like brothers; however, it was short lived as the Relic was getting progressively worse to the point that I had to find a way into Mikoshi to separate myself from Johnny. Unfortunately, he is no longer with me, and the biochip caused to much damage and I got only six months to live.” I explained while noting Judy became worried when I mentioned I’d be dead by this time next year.

“V, if there is anything that I can do at all; please let me know; I cannot lose you too.”

“Sure thing Judy; though I gotta figure out where I have to start first.” I mentioned as I noticed Panam had messaged me about getting her some coffee to start the morning off right.

“Hey Judy, I gotta go; Panam is asking me to bring her some coffee.” I said as we said our goodbyes and disconnected. After grabbing the coffee, I made my way back upstairs to the room that Panam and I are staying in, and upon entering, I noticed that she had already hopped into the shower. Leaving the coffee on the table, I hopped into the shower right behind her and give her a small kiss on the neck and a tiny nibble on her ear lobe, eliciting a moan from her, and her turning to face me. After a quick makeout session, she had told me to turn around, which I obliged her while being intrigued at the same time. Her idea that she whispered into my ear was that we would clean each other’s back off. We continued in the shower for another ten minutes before Panam decided that it was enough, and we needed to get dressed for the upcoming day. A few things were on the to do list; mainly getting a layout of the town, hearing what the hotel manager needs help with, and seeing a ripper doc to see if they know anything about this damn relic. As I opened the closet to retrieve my clothes, I had noticed that our Aldecaldo jackets were packed away and in their place was my clothing set that I purchased after getting to NC.

As I waited for Panam to finish getting dressed, I decided that it would be a good idea to open the window shutters and let in some sunlight. Peering outside, I noticed that the day was not only beautiful, but the sun was particulary bring today, or so I thought; maybe I just wasn’t used to being away from large skyscrapers and buildings yet. It’s just as Doctor Viktor said, plenty of sun and the freedom of the open world did wonders for my mental health and having Panam at my side just exemplified it even further; thinking on it, I kinda wished I had meet her earlier. Walking over to the computer, I opened up the web explorer to take a look at the recent news, and one article in particular surprised me.

**Night City**

**August 1 st, 2077**

**Word has reached us that Arasaka has endured a devastating attack on their NC branch; reminiscent of the 2022 attack that left thousands of dead. The death toll is still unconfirmed, but early reports show that nearly all the people inside have been massacred when Arasaka Tower’s computer mainframe was hacked; the result being the automated defenses designed to prevent another nuclear act of terrorism has turned on their owners. Early reports also indicate that Hanako Arasaka as well as Yorinobu Arasaka’s personal bodyguard Adam Smasher are among the dead; Yorinobu is expected to make a statement in a few weeks’ time when he recovers from injuries sustained from the attack.**

**In other news, human cloning has progressed into the early stages of trails and combined with Arasaka’s “Protect your Soul” program, can soon see an end to the last hurdle of humanity all together, death. Many people are unsure just how much this would cost, but just like “Secure your soul”, it may only be reserved for those who have the capital to invest into it. Though this does beg the question, we determined that we could clone, but has anyone questioned if we should?**

As I continued to read through the articles that were of little interest, I heard the bathroom door open reveling Panam wearing the same outfit she had one when we left NC. Getting up, I grabbed my iron just to be on the safe side, the Malorian Arms 3516 which became my go to pistol after I retrieved it from a job that I had with Rogue. With luck, I would not have any need to use my sidearm, but you can never be too careful, especially when you are in a place you’ve never been before.

“So, what’s on the schedule for Panam Palmer today?” I sarcastically asked her as she gave me a slight elbow to the waist.

“A wise guy eh; well, I would like to take a trip down to the garage to see if they have any parts that I could buy to upgrade my Thorn with.” She said as I gave her a little nudge back and eliciting a laugh from her in the process.

“Sounds like a solid plan; I may need to take a look around there as well to see if I can find a more advanced computer module for my car.”

“A computer module; what for?”

“Simply put, I have an AI that I brought with me from NC, but my current onboard computer module is too weak for me to install him into my car.” I explained as I went into detail on a job I had back in NC with the cab company called Delamain and how I was given this Delamain module after merging the personality constructs. I figured that it would be beneficial to have Delemain installed on my main vehicle incase anything happened, then he could take command of the vehicle. As we walked out the room, I remembered that the manager of the hotel wanted to speak with us about a potential job, so I figured our first stop would be to speak with him. As we went downstairs, we entered the lobby of the hotel and asked Lana where her father was; telling us he was in his office, she proceeded to show us to his office. Walking into the office, we were greeted by Lana’s father who beckoned us to take a seat as he poured a little bit of whiskey into a small shot glass and gave it to us.

“I just wanted to thank you again for letting us stay free of charge; it’s something that you honestly didn’t have to do.” I started before getting cutoff by Lana’s father.

“As I said yesterday, we are more than happy to adequately compensate our daughter’s rescuer, anyways, this is also the perfect time for us to get acquainted; you see, I happen to be one of the fixers in this town and I can get you into contact with them, but first I need a favor.”

“Alright; I’m listening.” I said as I placed the empty shot glass onto the table next to Panam’s glass.

“Lana, can you get a map of the surrounding area.”

“Sure thing dad.” Lana said as she walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a decent size map of the state and placed it on the table. 

“The issue that we have is the Raffen’s have set up camp here and have been harassing people passing through; until recently things were kinda quiet with them, but they escalated their attacks and have started murdering people. If you can eliminate them than I can put a word in with the rest of the fixers and see if we can dig anything up for your situation.”

“How do you want to go about tackling this Panam? I remember the last time we did something remotely similar, I got swarmed by Raffen Shiv pretty quickly.” I said as I turned towards Panam who was deep in thought; formulating a plan that she no doubt would like to sleep on. Knowing her, she’d want to use the Panzer and just batter down their gate and eliminate everyone inside; the issue though being two against many is never good odds. 

“I’ll need time to think, but I’ve got a few ideas; we can discuss them on our way to the garage.” She mentioned as we shook the managers hand and left. 

* * *

The small town of Tusayan had everything one could want if they were raising a small family; hell, it even had an old-time drive-in theater that was still operating. As we were walking down main street, I noticed that town life here was significantly different from that of NC; in place of the clubs, strip clubs, bars, BD studios were small, medium, and large parks, movie theaters, and libraries. A longing feeling soon overcame me as I watched the local town-folk go about their daily routine and as the children were playing in the park; funny seeing as not even a year ago I thought the best life possible could be obtained through the hustle and bustle of Night City. Matter of fact, I felt like I was the baddest motherfucker alive when Jackie and I were running together with Merc work, and all the clubs we’d hit was a time to be alive. Of course, that all changed after a botched job and my life was drastically changed, now I just fight to survive for Panam’s sake. As we continued our way to the garage, I felt Panam wrap herself around my arm and as I looked at her, she looked completely in peace; like there was absolutely no weight on her shoulders.

“You know, this is really nice.” I said as Panam looked at me and smiled.

“It is, like there isn’t a care in the world.” Panam said as we arrived at the garage and walked inside. Entering the garage, we were greeted by the clerk who looked a little uncomfortable with Nomads in his shop. If I had to guess, probably something related to the Raffen Shiv in this area and their atrocities to the surrounding community.

“I do hope you’ll are not here to cause trouble.” The clerk said as he was reaching for something; if I had to place a wager, I reckon it’s iron. Not actually that bad of an idea, having some form of defense would make a potential robbery much riskier and potentially save the man’s life; though I should calm him down before me and Panam are staring down the barrel of whatever he has.

“Easy choom, we are not here to cause troube; matter of fact, we just want to do a little shopping.” I said as I defused the situation and placed the clerk at ease.

“Oh, my apologies; I didn’t recognize you and we’ve had some issues with some nomads around these parts killing, raping, and stealing; you can never be too careful now adays. Anyways, what is it that you are looking for?”

“Well, I’m hoping you’d have a computer module powerful enough for an AI.” I explained as the clerk looked through his catalogue

“And what about you Ma’am, anything I can do to help?” The clerk asked Panam as she gave him a list of parts that she required for her Thorn.

“I’ll see what I can do, but it may take a week for me to acquire all these parts; if you want, you can pay for them now and I’ll call you when they are ready for pickup.” The clerk said

“How do we know you won’t try to pull a fast one on us?” I asked him as the whole paying and not having it on hand didn’t sit right with me.

“Well, as you can see this is a small town and unfortunately, I have the only auto-mechanic shop here, as you could imagine, if I did something like that I would not be in business for long.” The clerk explained as I looked at Panam whom seemed to be thinking on it before voicing her opinion on the mater.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think we can pay you in full for parts you don’t even have; however, would you accept us paying twenty percent now and we would pay for the rest when it arrives?” Panam asked as the clerk thought it over for a minutes before agreeing to her terms and wrote up a contract.

“That I can do, and if you sign this contract, I can place the order for the parts and have them ready for pickup when they arrive.” The mentioned as he handed us a pen and we both signed and paid for the order before leaving. As we stepped outside the garage, we noticed that it was getting close to noon and started walking towards the commercial district to get some food. Walking down main street, we noticed that there were more people out and about and while being more crowded, the crowd felt oddly comfortable compared to how it would have felt in NC. After five minutes of walking, we had come across a small street taco stand and at Panam’s insistence, we decided to order food from there. Not gonna lie, I was hoping to get some Mexican food seeing as it is my favorite, and by the looks of it, Panam’s favorite too; after placing our orders we sat down on a small bench overlooking a water fountain and started to discuss the day’s events.

First and foremost was our plan to deal with the Raffen Shiv; personally, I would just take the Panzer and level their hideout, and Panam seems to agree. Though getting into another major fight just after the Arasaka raid was far from our agenda, we knew that if we didn’t do something about the Raffen’s, they would eventually become our problem and it would be better to do a preemptive strike than wait around like Saul did back in the bad lands of NC. As we continued to converse our lunch was ready and I went to get it, as I walked back, I could see Panam was lounging on the bench and sat back up when I came to sit down. I handed her order to her and proceeded to eat mine; an interesting feeling too as when the relic was acting up, eating was difficult for me, but now it is normal again. After lunch, we decided to head back to the hotel’s bar and drink before leaving to head back to the Aldecaldo camp first thing in the morning; tell you what though, I was not looking forward to the drive. I always enjoyed drinking with Panam, even way back when we first met and she has good taste for beer; though today would be interesting as I wonder if alcohol would still fuck with my nervous system like it did when I had Johnny riding shotgun in my head.

“Panam, you know that you can always come to me for anything when it comes to leading the Aldecaldos.” I said as I took a sip of my beer and she turned to me with a slight smile forming on her lips.

“Thanks V; I really appreciate it.” She said as I placed an arm around her and pulled her close, which she gladly reciprocated.

“Believe me when I say this; you’ll make a great leader for the Aldecaldos, and you know you can always count on Mitch, Cassidy and I to be there to help you should you need it.” I told her as I kissed her on the cheek and noticed that her blush was reddening.

“Oh, you better expect you’ll be helping me quite often; though it’s funny as I always looked at Saul and his leadership with disdain, but now I understand he only wanted what was safest for us.” Panam said as the nastalaga was starting to creep in.

**Flashback**

**Panam PoV**

The Aldecaldos camp was bustling with life and I was getting settled back in; just an hour prior Saul has told me that I’d be leading the Aldecaldos by his side and I had never been more terrified in my life. True, even thoughs what V had said about me being a natural born leader and having the Aldecaldos best interest at heart, but something else had taken my hearts interest as well; that person being V. I was now torn between my family and the love of my life as I sat on my bed contemplating the events of the previous three months, and how quickly I fell in love with V. Getting up, I looked over and saw V was still unconscious after his fall in the cantina and my heart ached for whatever was ailing him; it was there that I made a vow that I’d help him get better. As I walked outside my tent, I was approached by Saul.

“How’s V doing?”

“He’s still unconscious and I don’t know if he’ll wake up anytime soon. Saul, I’m scared for him; one minute he was fine and the next he was seconds from passing out and the blood Saul, there was so much blood, I thought he had died right then and there.” I screamed in between sobs; Saul placed a hand on my shoulder, and I started to settle down; I guess the stress, fear and anger that I’ve had bottled up was starting to come out.

“Panam; I’ve seen V fight, so I highly doubt he’d give up this fight without seeing it through to the end; however, we are now in critical danger and need to leave this place before the Raffen Shiv come back with greater numbers.” Saul said as I immediately got worried; mostly for V as he had practically no one that I know of that could take care of him.

“And what of V; look at his Saul, he can’t stay here alone.”

“I know that Panam, which is why we are taking him with us; he’s much safer with us than by himself at this point.” Saul said as he called Mitch over so that his order to pack and move could quickly be spread through the camp. “Panam, we’ll place V inside your truck, and I’ll ride with you to provide support should you need it.” Saul added as we both walked up to the cot and managed to lift V up enough to place a small gurney under him to make carrying him easier. After words, with the help of two other Aldecaldos, we lifted the gurney and walked it over to my truck and placed V in the back of the cab.

“Saul, do you mind driving so I can be in the back caring for V?” I asked as Saul thought it over and figured it would be best for me to be in the back to keep V’s head elevated.

“Sure thing Panam, but we will need someone else with us to man the gun if we get attacked mid move.” Saul said as he called Mitch over and told him the plan, which mitch agreed. Saul and Mitche’s vehicles would be driven by some of the veteran Aldecaldos which would help alleviate the logistical nightmare of leaving vehicles behind and needing recovering later. In a record time of three hours, the Aldecaldos were on the road again, and heading to their destination before leaving North California again. After an hour and a half of driving, the Aldecaldos arrived at the new location that they’d set up shop. Of course, the first tent to be put up was mine so that they could get V out of the sun; funnily enough, someone placed a second cot on the opposite wall of the tent and a chair between them. I also decided that it would be a good idea to get V out of his heavy and bulky cloths so that he could remain cool and rest. When I walked outside the tent, I saw Saul walking up to me with an Aldecaldo jacket fitted for a man and he handed it to me.

“This is for V Panam; I decided that it’s time for V to become an official member of this family.” Saul said as I could feel my heart throbbing and excitement grew; something told me that V would accept without a second thought, so I took it hung it up in the tent. After sitting down in the chair again, I waited for V to wake up, and to my surprise, he started to rouse not to long after; maybe fifteen minutes give or take. 

**V's PoV**

I awoke to the worst headache possible, that damn relic must have malfunctioned again and with how it feels, I need to get this corrected soon, or I may not even make it. As I became more aware of my surroundings, I saw Panam sitting in a chair next to where I was laying down and I was relieved to see it was her. As I got my bearings, I soon realized that the Aldecaldos must have moved because the area looked different from what I was used to. From what Panam told me, they packed up and moved three hours after I passed out and had been out for at least half the day; what got my attention though was the tent, the two cots, and the Aldecaldos jacket hanging above my cot.

“Hey Panam; what happened and where are we?” I asked her as she sat next to me.

“We are in the camp; we moved shortly after you fell unconscious. V, you gotta tell me; what is going on with you. One minute you are fine and enjoying a beer with me and the next you’re unconscious and bleeding pretty badly.” She told me as I could tell she was wanting to cry but kept her nerves in check for me.

“Panam; it’s getting worse.” I started before taking a deep breath and explained to her the whole Johnny Silverhand construct sitting in my hand, and how this damn chip was killing me; it was at this point that I started to cry a little bit as the whole reality of my situation came crashing down on me and hard. After my story, of course she was skeptical at first thinking I was playing a prank on her, but she soon realized I was being serious and quickly got concerned again. It was at that point that I changed the subject, and the first one being the jacket as it sure as hell looked to small for her considering her breasts are big.

“Hey Panam, what’s with the Aldecaldos jacket hanging above this cot?” I asked her as she looked at me with a proud look on her face.

“Well, you see; seeing all you’ve done for us, you are one of us, an Aldecaldo.” Panam said as I took in the news kinda shocked; never thought I’d actually get into another nomad group, and yet here I was getting inaugurated into one without even trying. The news itself was quite a shock to me, but maybe I just found what I needed and longed for. And having a family with Panam had an enticing ring to it as well; she would make a great mother one day.

 **“You’ve missed this, you know.”** I heard Johnny say as he materialized right in front of me again.

“What do you mean?” I asked as he sat down next to me and Panam, though she couldn’t see him.

 **“The camaraderie and having something to return to; damn shame I never realized it until it was to late.** **Listen V, I reckon our time together is coming to an end, but I want you to know that once we are inside of Mikoshi, you need to let go of me; learn from my past mistakes and do not take your love for Panam or her love for you for granted. Grow old with her and have little V’s running around and fucking with the Corpos left and right; you understand?”** Johnny explained to me while I nodded understanding exactly what he meant, and even though we didn’t need to say it, in a sense we had become brothers; hell, even closer brothers than Jackie and I were.

**Flashback end.**

As we downed our fifth beer, we soon realized that it was close to the bars closing time and with one last chug we made our way back upstairs to sleep; knowing that tomorrow would be a very long road trip and we’d need our energy. Here’s hoping that the camp was fully functioning, and we could get right to work.

* * *

Note: I am thinking of going for a more first person perspective when dealing with V and Panam and would like to have your input on whether it would be a good idea or not. As an example, the flashback with panam is what I am thinking of going towards, though am still unsure.

Until next time.


	4. Plans and Battles

**Authors note:** I just wanted to say thank you to those who’ve left comments, as well as like and kudos. For those who are reading this on FF, you can also find this story on Archive of Our Own as well and will be more explicit than the story on FF.

* * *

We left Tusayan at the crack of dawn to return to camp by late afternoon and touch base with Mitch and hash out a plan for our first gig. Personally, I would prefer to infiltrate the place by myself and eliminate each Shiv, but Panam would have none of that and would insist on accompanying me; hell, she may even want to take the Panzer, though we still needed to repair it from the Mikoshi heist. As I drove down the interstate, I glanced over to see Panam fast asleep and snoring lightly; something about how peaceful she looked asleep stirred something within me. A desire to protect her for the rest of our lives, and any children we would have together. I definitely had to be the luckiest man alive to have a woman like Panam and if everything went to plan, I intend for this to last quite a while. 

The drive back to camp was shorter than I had expected, instead of the eight hours that I had expected to be on the road, we arrive in five-and-a-half hours. The best part being Panam now owed me a beer as we made a beat that it would take me at least eight hours to get to camp, though I’d hold her up to that when we get settled in. Pulling into the camp, I parked my car next to her truck and noticed that Mitch was walking up to greet us; gotta admit I’m glad Panam tasked him with getting the camp up in running in our absence, and I could already see the more tech inclined people working on the Panzer. Of course, we still had people erecting tents, but most of them were for our supplies.

“Panam, V, welcome back; tell me, how was Tusayan.” Mitch asked as Panam and I exited the vehicle and headed towards the Cantina for a drink with Mitch in tow.

“It’s not to bad, a small town with some decent shops around; however, we do already have a job from one of their fixers.” I said as we walked through the camp.

“We also found a garage that seems to have decent stock; might would want to check it out for yourself Mitch.” Panam added as we walked up to the Cantina truck

“That’s good to hear, though I do have some important information for you V that you may want to hear.” Mitch said as we all ordered a beer and sat down at one of the tables.

“Is it good or bad information?” I asked as I took a swig of my drink and watched as Panam downed the entire thing without so much as a hiccup; the burp on the other hand was something I wasn’t expecting, and her red cheeks betrayed her embarrassment.

“Depends on how you view it; while I was doing some recon, I came across some of your former compatriots from the Bakkers. Not gonna lie, I was surprised they were even out here, last I heard they went to Oregon.” Mitch said as both Panam and I perked up at the name of my former Nomad clan, what on Earth could they be doing out here.

“Any idea what they are doing out here?” Panam asked as the cogs were already turning in her brain; maybe we could use this to our advantage, though I don’t know how they would react to seeing me again after I had ‘abandoned them after their merge with Snake Nation’. Of course, there really wasn’t bad blood, and Chari understood that their destiny and mine did not match up. Of course, listening to her gloat about being correct wasn’t gonna be fun and hopefully Panam could keep that legendary temper of hers under control.

“I don’t think they’d pose any real threat to us; especially considering them being part of Snake Nation now. The real question though is if they’d be willing to trade with us, and maybe even have contacts that we could use.” I said as I mused over possibly contacting them again, or course they’d be elated knowing that I became a nomad again but pissed that it is with the Aldecaldos and not them.

“Agreed, and as Saul would say, the worst action to take would be to not take any action at all; however, we first need to deal with the Raffen Shiv that made camp at an old cement factory thirty miles from our location.” Mitch said with Panam arching an eyebrow as to how Mitch already knew before I told her that I had briefed Mitch on the job and to get the ball rolling. Mitch proceeded to hand both me and Panam a shard that had the factory schematics on it, and the possible compliment of Shiv members that were there. It was interesting to say the least, this Raffen Shiv base had supplies that we could take and even make some money from. Furthermore, we believe them to have prisoners who’d either be willing to join us, or we can get them back to their communities safe and sound, further spreading the Aldecaldos influence in the region. If all goes well and we can make a name for ourselves out here, then the contracts will come.

“On another note, seeing as our most experienced net runners were killed in the Arasaka assault, how would you like to take their position V?” Panam asked me as I thought it over; true, I was a hell of a grunt, but I also had a lot of experience in the net running aspect as well. Something I picked up on from T-Bug, and after her death further developed it to the point of mastery; hell, probably one of my proudest moments was causing a gang bannger to shoot his friends cocks off, then his own cock. The look on Johnny’s face was priceless, and he soon burst out in laughter.

“Sure, gotta do something to earn my keep around here anyways.” I said as Panam flashed me a bright smile before dragging me off towards the garage.

“Good, the first thing you can do is help me fix my Thorn seeing as her current state is thanks to your ever so ‘perfect’ shooting.” Panam said as she started and I could only grimmice at the memory that came to my head of our assault on a Kang Tau transport, which also caused Panam to become injured.

“Preem, though I would like to take a look at your turret; I feel like it is going to need to be rebuilt, and if I can do that then I can upgrade her targeting systems as well.” I said as Panam pondered what I had offered to do.

“Sounds reasonable, but you are gonna pay for the turret and targeting upgrades.” She said as I gave her a grin causing her to smile. 

“Guess there isn’t a way out of paying, is there?” I half-jokingly asked as Panam laughed before hitting me in the shoulder with her elbow.

“Not unless you want to be sleeping with Mitch or Cassidy for the foreseeable future.” She said as the color from my face drained, I can just see them talking shit about getting thrown out of my tent by Panam.

“Right, I’ll be sure to stay on your good side then; pretty sure I wouldn’t hear the end of it from You, or the rest of the family if you kicked me out.” I said as Panam continued to laugh and started snorting as well. As we made our way into the garage, we saw that Mitch and Cassidy were already inside working on their own individual rides with Panam’s ride sitting towards one of the corners. As I engaged my Kiroshi Optics, I started seeing the health reports of the vehicle, overall, she was in great shape but needed some work done. Turning my optics off, I could see Panam was looking at me with a confused expression on her face before I explained to her that my optics allowed me to see a health report on a vehicle.

“Wait, you have Kiroshi Optics?” Panam asked as I nodded before I remembered that nomads usually didn’t have Optical implants due to how expensive they are and never being in the same area for long. Hell, I never had optical implants until I came to Night City, and they were a gift from Dr. Viktor.

“Well Panam, looks like we got ourselves a very preem prize.” Mitch joked as he joined our conversation with Cassidy not too far behind him.

“anyways, what are you’ll doing here?” Cassidy asked as Mitch leaned against Panam’s ride.

“We have a job Cassidy, and we need to do some repairs on my ride before we attempt to do anything about the problem.” Panam explained as I took out a shard that had information about the Shiv and their camp and handed it to Cassidy and Mitch.

“Shit, count us in Panam, I’m itching for some action again.”

“Good, it’s just going to be the four of us, it’ll be easier with just four versus the entire family.” Panam said as I agreed with her assessment; four people could clear the entire encampment out much easier and quieter than a full blow assault.

“And for that reason, I think using the Panzer should be out of the question.” I said as Panam faced me wanting to chew my ass out for even suggesting leaving the Panzer.

“Really, do you know how stupid that is? That Panzer would give us an edge and we wouldn’t have to worry about anyone getting hurt!” Panam hissed at me while giving me one of her infamous death glares.

“Easy there Panam; V’s right in that if we were to take the Panzer than the Raffen’s will see us coming a mile away. It would give them time to set up defenses and who knows what they have that could take the Panzer out of the fight.” Mitch said as Panam turned her head towards him and thought it over; while she was not happy with not taking the Panzer, she also understood where both Mitch and I were coming from, and she eventually relented.

After a few hours of doing basic repair work on the turret, I figured it would be a good enough time as any to fire her up and test out the turret. Personally, I hope that I fixed the issue with the gun jamming, but only way to test that out would be to use it; something I’d rather not do in camp. Putting the finishing touches on the turret, I saw Panam walking back towards the garage with Overwatch, and Johnny’s revolver holstered in her belt.

* * *

Leaving camp was easier said than done, and many of the Aldecaldos were wondering what was going on. Mitch is a life saver and told them all that we were going to go scouting for a new trail incase anything happened which put most of them at ease. As we were driving down the road, I could see the sun beginning to set which meant that by the time we reached the Raffen camp, we’d have not only the element of surprise, but also darkness to conceal us as well.

“Hey Panam, I was just curious if you had anyone in your life before me?” I asked her which caught her off guard.

“You mean if I had a lover before you?” She replied as I nodded in agreement.

“Not when I was traveling with the Aldecaldos, but when I got to Night City, I started to think about it, and we know how that turned out.” She said as she nudged me on the shoulder.

“What happened?” I asked as Panam took a deep breath.

“You remember that bastard Nash?” She asked me with venom in her voice.

“The bastard who klepped your ride; yeah.” I said as Panam shifted in her seat.

“Well, he attempted to do more than just that; you know the bastard tried to spike my drink and rape me as well.” Panam said as I could hear the venom with each word.

“Shit Panam.” I said before she cut me off.

“I’m not finished, anyways, I took a drink of my beer and passed out not to long after; thankfully, Eddy knew me and saw me pass out. Nash told him he’d ‘take care of me’, but Eddy refused and said that I’d be staying there tonight. Straight up told Nash if he ever saw him again, he’d blow his brains out.” Panam finished as she chuckled at the thought of Nash getting his just desert, though in a way he did, but by someone else.

“Shit Panam, I’m so sorry; had I known I would not of been as persistent on trying to fuck you that night.” I said as Panam placed a

“It’s fine V, and besides, I’d be lying if the thought didn’t cross my mind; hell, watching you dance around those Raffen Shive battling them close quarters like nothing actually aroused me greatly.” She said as she started to laugh.

“Why didn’t you then and why’d you agree to share a bedroom together?” I asked her with genuine curiosity.

“Well, first and foremost, I was exhausted; I had not slept in days. Secondly, something about you made me feel at ease and I felt safe with you. I also didn’t want you to think I was just some slut who’d spread her legs for the first man to come across her.” She said as I smiled at the thought of even not knowing each other, she still thought highly enough of me to share a room and be safe.

“What about you V, did you have anyone that you were sweet on before meeting me?” She asked me as I thought about it.

“There was this one girl that I knew when I was in the Bakkers; hell, we even shared our first kiss in a synthetic corn field.” I said as the memory resurfaced.

“What happened?” Panam asked.

“A few weeks later we were moving camp, and some Raffen Shiv ambushed us; unfortunately, she caught a bullet to the heart.” I said as I thought back on it, that ambush had decimated the Bakkers, and was a big contributing factor to them joining Snake Nation five years later; hence my vendetta against the Raffen Shiv.

“Damn V, I’m so sorry.” Panam said as she squeezed my shoulder.

“Thank you Panam, but there’s nothing to be sorry about and to be honest, had that ambush not even happened, the Bakkers would have just found another excuse to join Snake Nation.” I said as Panam pondered what I had said fully understanding as she had been in the same boat when she became a Merc.

“You know, even with the shit we’ve been through; I’m glad things worked out with us.” Panam said as I squeezed her hand and agreed with her on that.

“Agreed, and I want you to know that if ever the time came where the Aldecaldos would turn left and you right; I’m going right with you.” I said as I saw Panam smile.

“Thankfully that won’t happen.” She said as we arrived at our destination and proceeded to get out of the truck.

* * *

The concrete factory has long been abandoned and by the looks of it, was owned by the same company that the Raffens had Saul captive in. With the floor plan being near identical, it made organizing the plan all that much easier, and with suppressed weapons and luck, the Raffens will not know we are even there. The added bonus being it was near midnight when we breach the compound and only a small contingent would even be up and keeping guard.

“So, what’s the plan Panam?” Cassidy asked as he and Mitch approached us.

“I’m gonna leave that for V; this is more his area of expertise anyways.” She said as all three turned to me.

“We take them by surprise with a two-pronged assault from the north and south side of the complex; Panam and I will attack the North while Mitch and Cassidy attack from the South. While we were heading this way, I took the liberty to look over the floor plan and I organized a strategy with lessons learned from our rescue of Saul. First and foremost, we attack when most of them are asleep; we first attack where they all sleep at and can kill most of them before they know we are there. After that, it’s just a matter of cleaning up the stragglers, and with suppressed weapons we won’t have much to worry about.” I said as I took out four suppressed M251s Ajax Assault Rifles and handed them to Panam, Mitch, and Cassidy. I addition to the AR’s, I also took out four silenced Unity Pistols as a backup; while I still had Overwatch strapped to my back and handed Panam a suppressor for her Sniper Rifle as well. After going over the details, we get to work.

Panam and I were the first to get into position, a gate that was lightly guarded by just one man. After the guard left the area, I gave Panam a lift and she climbed over the got and jumped onto the other side; from there she opened it and I made my way through. As we went into a narrow corridor between two buildings, I could see the guard was pissing on the wall and with a quickhack shut his senses down. With one swift motion of my trusty combat knife, I slit his throat and hid the body. From there, she and I used a ladder to access the roof and cleared the sniper that was closest to us; poor fella didn’t even see it coming.

Mitch and Cassidy on the other hand had a bit of tougher time getting into position as they came across three guards who would not separate which prompted them to contact me.

“V, we’ve got an issue; there are three guards near me, and we can’t proceed until they are eliminated; can you distract one of them?” Mitch asked over the holo as I hacked into their network and placed several daemons and then proceeded to shut down their optics and audio capability. Taking aim with Overwatch, I called out the target I was going to kill and told them to handle the other two. A silent shot rang out and the first guard head was obliterated while the other two were killed in quick succession by Mitch and Cassidy.

“Thanks for the assist V.” Mitch called over the holo as we continued to the center of the compound and infiltrated the makeshift barracks that the Raffens were using. Panam and I entered the building from the rooftop while Mitch and Cassidy entered from an unguarded door and we made haste to the security main frame.

“V, you think you can upload a virus to the mainframe?” Panam asked me as Mitch and Cassidy sealed the doors shut behind us.

“Already ahead of you on that sweetheart.” I mentioned to Panam as she started glaring at me

“Oh, yeah, it’s gonna be interesting when they wake up. Mitch, Cassidy; you’ll manage to seal the doors?” I continued as Mitch and Cassidy finished locking up the doors.

“Sure did V; say, what you got planned for those bastards?” Cassidy asked

“I’ve uploaded a cyberpyshosis daemon which will infect all the Raffens, once it hits, they will all start shooting at each other. With luck they will all die, and we can just waltz on out.” I said as Mitch and Cassidy were grinning from ear to ear while Panam was equally impressed but pissed at the same time, mainly me calling her sweetheart in front of Mitch and Cassidy.

“And if they don’t?” Panam asked as she looked at the camera screen to see the Raffens start to attack one another.

“We’ll have to kill the remaining Raffens then; unfortunately, uploading the cyberpyschosis daemon to their network took all I had, even after uploading a breaching protocol.” I explained as they all understood somewhat just how demanding pulling something like this off is.

As we continued to keep an eye towards the monitors, to my horror the daemon that I uploaded failed to do as much damage as I’d like and now the entire compound was in an alarm. As I looked out, I could see the Raffens starting to get their bearings and figured this would be as good of a time as any to attack them head on. Without uttering a word, Mitch opened the door and we entered hells embrace. The firefight proved to be as exciting and freightning as any other firefight that I’d ever been in; my main goal though was protecting Panam, Mitch, and Cassidy; hell, Johnny was right about one thing. Going Solo, I never had to worry about this, but now I do. 

The Raffens put up more of a resistance then I anticipated and soon we were running low on ammo. It was at this time I decided to start net running seeing as my ram slots had returned, and I started quick hacking the nearest Raffens using overheat on one and overcharge on the other. While batteling through the Raffens, I saw one had his rifle pointed directly at Panam and without hesitation I used my body to ram her out of the way and took the bullet in the process, a memory coming back in the process.

 **‘V, would you take a bullet for me if the time came?’** I heard Silverhand once ask and reminisced on that; Panam on the other hand was both worried and furious at me.

Not to long after the rest of the Raffens were dead; their charred, dismembered and otherwise non-recognizable bodies left for the crows to feed upon. Mitch was assisting me to Panam’s truck when she halted him and started directly into my soul.

“Why the hell did you do that you gonk.” She demanded as I looked at her; while she was angry and pissed, I could also see the fear and worry in her eyes.

“You were gonna get injured or possibly killed, so I did what I felt was the right thing to do.” I weakly said as Panam pondered

“Why would you risk everyone for me?” Was all she could ask as I could see tears starting to form

“So that you wouldn’t end up like Jackie.” Was all I could muster before passing out, Panam kept V’s unconscious body cradled to her breast before laying him down so that first aid could applied.

**Panam’s PoV**

I looked over V’s unconscious body and felt responsible for this; had I been more attentive to the battle than maybe I could have gotten out of that sniper’s field of fire and V would not have had to use his body as a shield. I was thankful when Cassidy immediately went to perform first aid on V and prayed that V would come out of this on top.

‘So you wouldn’t end up like Jackie.’ When he uttered that, my heart skipped a beat; he was so scared of losing me the same way he lost Jackie that he used himself as a shield to protect me.

“You must not blame yourself Panam; V himself didn’t notice that sniper until it was too late, and he had a split-second decision to make, so he chose to protect you.” Mitch said as I just stared at my lover’s unconscious face

“He’s right Panam; we all knew the risks, and no one knows them better then V; believe me when I say that it will take more than just a sniper to put V down.” Cassidy said as he filled the bullet hole with quick clot and medical gauze. Within minutes the bleeding was under control and V was carefully transported to my Thorn. Looking at V, I was thankful we had friends to count on and with time I had no doubt V would be healed up and ready to take on the world. The crutch of the issue still remained though, neither I or V are invincible, and who’s to say the next time won’t be the last.

* * *

**Post note:** I just wanted to apologize how long it took for me to get this chapter posted on both AO3 as well as FF. I ended up getting called into work at the last minute to travel so that we could fix an aircraft to get it back home.

Note 2: I was just curious how you’ll would feel if I brought Johnny back and made him a more integral part of the story.


	5. A fast recovery

**Authors note:** This chapter will reintroduce Johnny into the story as well as Alt, and the next two chapters or so will introduce the next villain that V and company will have to overcome; hope you enjoy.

* * *

The black abyss I found myself staring into was unsettling to say the least and differed from the time when Dex Deshawn shot and killed me. Looking around, there stood a single figure that I couldn’t make heads or tails of, so my best bet was to get closer. Walking closer, the figure gradually started to take a familiar shape, one that I thought I’d never see again. The black abyss was soon replaced with my memory of the Aldecaldo camp, but empty apart from me and the phantom; it made me wonder if the relic was malfunctioning again.

 **“It’s good to see you again V.”** The figure said as I sat down to take in my surroundings; I figured either I was one hundred percent dead or teetering between life and death.

“Johnny, never thought I’d see you again and how you are even here; last thing I remember was Alt separating us before I went back to my body.” I said as Johnny sat next to me, as good as it was to see him again, I was still confused how he was even here.

 **“I’ll be able to answer that.”** The figure said as it manifested itself into Alt Cunningham before she continued.

 **“I took a calculated risk by partitioning the biochip and creating a slot for both you and Johnny; it was then that I deactivated Johnny’s partition so as to not overwrite your partition again.”** Alt explained as I took in the information and wondered what this would mean for me now.

“I don’t understand; the biochip is the reason I’m even in this mess to begin with, and now I have Johnny’s construct riding shotgun again. What’s to say that the biochip won’t allow him to finally take over, even against his will.” I said as Johnny wasn’t all too happy about it either; Alt had completely changed the plan without even letting us know, and it in of itself felt like a betrayal.

 **“V’s right Alt; this was not the agreement that we had. You know, I was a hypocritical, egotistical, narcissistic asshole in life who shunned all those who cared for me, but V showed me that living that kind of life was not only wrong, but downright pathetic; however, even I would have never gone back on my word, and I never thought I’d live to see you go back on yours.”** Johnny said as he continued to get even more pissed off at this entire situation.

 **“If I can continue before V’s ripperdoc fixes him up and he regains consciousness.”** Alt demanded and shut both me and Johnny up before continuing. **“That was before I hacked into Arasaka’s mainframe; there I found out that they had acquired information on Militech’s experimental cloning program, at first I thought nothing of it but soon realized that there was more to it than I first thought. Browsing through the files that Arasaka had managed to klep from Militech, they explained that Militech’s experimental cloning procedure was successful; however, it was missing one key ingredient.”** Alt finished as I soon realized what that ingredient must had been; a biochip with a person’s engram on it.

 **“And how exactly do we convince Militech to clone V? Last I checked, V doesn’t even have the money for this procedure, nor does he have the connections at Militech.”** Johnny said as I pondered over it; sure, Meredith Stout became their spokeswoman, but she cut off all contact with me not to long after I assisted her in proving her innocence.

“Johnny is right; there has to be another way.” I said as Alt faced me before addressing that particular can of worms.

 **“Unfortunately, your body is too far gone to be saved at this point; however, the cloning procedure will in essence rebuild your body on a molecular level with your original DNA intact while maintaining the outer shell.”** Alt explained, but my confusion only worsened.

“What do you mean by keeping my outer shell; I thought cloning required a whole new body to be made.” I said trying to piece this all together.

 **“Normally you’d be right, and that is what will happen in Johnny’s case; however, the cloning process will amplify the biochips ability to change your DNA back to its original configuration; in a sense, you’ll be completely rebuilt inside while maintaining your exterior. If that still confuses you, think of it like rebuilding the interior of a car; that’s what is going to happen to you.”** Alt explained as I processed what she was saying, this sounded too good to be true, and I had my doubts; hell, even explaining this to Panam would cause her to tell me I’ve finally lost my mind. However, what got my attention the most was cloning Silverhand and giving him a second lease on life? I highly doubt Arasaka would like that, and thought it’d be awesome if we stormed Arasake tower for shits and giggles; they’d piss themselves.

 **“So, to get the gist of it; you’re saying that this cloning procedure would rebuild both mine and Johnny’s body and from there I’d be able to remove the biochip?”** I asked as Alt confirmed that this was indeed the case.

 **“You still have not answered how we are going to manage to get that far Alt, and why would you even do this for me?”** Johnny said as Alt turned back towards him

 **“You’ll use me as bait; there is a rogue AI that is currently in charge of the cloning program who has been trying to assimilate me for the past sixty years. He knows about our connection V and will contact you soon under the guise of a scientist with a trade; you give them the biochip and you get a new body and Militech’s records are wiped clean from the Aldecaldo raid.”** Alt said as both Johnny and I were uncomfortable with using Alt as bait; particularly if she was indeed assimilated than there would be very little we could do to stop the rogue AI threat to come.

“Johnny, what are your thoughts on this?” I asked as he looked me dead in the eye.

 **“A mixed bag V, on the one hand it’d be great to live again, but I don’t want to put Alt in that kind of danger again. It’s my fault that she died in the first place, and if anything happened a second time, I don’t know what I’d do.”** He said before Alt cut in.

 **“And as I told you already, the Alt Cunningham that you knew is long gone; I am merely a reflection of her genius and nothing more, anyways, it’s time for you to return to the land of the living. Goodbye V, and we will be in touch.”** Alt said and in a flash the scenery started to fade away and I started to come to.

* * *

As I came to, the first thing I had noticed was that I was back in the tent that Panam and I shared; however, the odd thing was that Vik was here as well. Sitting up in bed and letting my eyes adjust to the light, I noticed Misty was here as well and to my surprise, so was Judy. It was also at that point that Johnny materialized in front of me again, and took the surroundings in. Across from the tent, I could hear Panam arguing with Mitch over something, but I figured it would be wise not to eavesdrop onto her conversation.

“Surprised to see me V?” Vik asked with a chuckle and Misty moved towards me to check on my bandages.

“I am, why are you even here?” I asked as Misty spoke up.

“Panam called me over the holo after looking through your database; said that you were gravely injured, and that Vik was the only one who had the skills necessary to save your life.” Misty said

“It was by pure coincidence that I was driving through Night City when Misty called me, so I picked her and Vik up and drove them here.” Judy said as panam walked into the tent with Mitch in tow.

“Damn it V, don’t you ever do something such a gonk thing again; you hear me!” Panam shouted before wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug, much to the amusement of Vik and Mitch, and the adoration of Judy and Misty.

“I was so worried about you.” Panam whispered into my ear before she pulled back so that I could have a bit of space. 

“How long was I out for?” I asked

“About a week and a half.” Panam said and that completely took me by surprise, normally I’d only be out a day or two at most.

 **“Shit V, looks like that bullet did a number on you.”** Johnny said as he was leaning against the tent wall beside me.

“Guys, there’s something that I need to tell you, and you may not like it.” I said as Panam, Vik, Mitch, Judy, and Misty looked at me with confusion.

“What is it V?” Panam asked as everyone else waited for my answer.

“Johnny is back.” Is all I said, with Panam, Vik, and Misty going white in the face and Judy confused by that.

“What? I thought we got rid of the bastard in Mikoshi.” Panam yelled as she punched the tent wall that ironically Johnny was leaning against, at that point he decided that he’d be safer in my mind and dematerialized.

 **“Later V.”** Was all I heard Johnny say before he was gone.

“I did too, but apparently Alt changed the plan at the very last minute without even so much as letting Johnny and I know.” I said as Panam started clenching her fists and was about ready to storm out before Vik asked a very important question.

“Are you still in danger of Johnny taking over” Vik asked me.

“No, his engram is partitioned from mine on the biochip; Vik, I need you to do a full diagnostic if that would be possible at all here.” I said as Panam looked directly at me, unaware that I had an engram on the biochip as well.

“Why are you an engram V?” She asked me

“Part of Alt’s original plan to separate me from Johnny, though from what she told me when I was unconscious; she quickly made a split-second decision and copied both engrams and partitioned them so as to not overwrite the other.” I said as everyone pondered that over unsure what Alt’s game was, and Panam was none too happy about how we were all duped by the AI. 

“And why did she dupe us exactly?” Panam asked as she sat down next to me.

“She didn’t exactly dupe us, but she sure as hell didn’t tell me the entire story; though that may be because I was in a hurry to get out of Mikoshi before you and I were killed there as well Panam.” I said as Panam squeezed my shoulder softy and mumbled something about how that would have been the end of Arasaka.

“So, what is the whole story then V.” This time it was Judy who spoke up, and to my surprise, it appeared that Panam did not consider her a threat to our relationship which I was thankful for, if there was one thing I was surprised about; it was how protective Panam became of me, of our relationship, and she would do what was necessary to protect us. Funnily enough, I was the same way when it came to her and made a vow shortly after we became an item that I’d do everything in my power to protect her.

“Long story short, Militech has a cloning device that I will be able to slot into; though the process itself I am unsure of.” I said as Panam just scoffed

“Sounds like someone’s bullshitting you V.” Panam said as she snorted which was not uncommon when she was in disbelief. 

“I know, which is why I’m gonna send Vik the details that I got, and he can give us his opinion on it.” I said as my optics illuminated with a crimson color, and Vik’s illuminated with a deep blue color. Vik looked over the documents that I sent him, and as he read through it, he became intrigued at what Militech had managed to achieve.

“What do you think Vik, is it feasible to clone someone?” Mitch asked with a bit of skepticism betraying his otherwise calm and collected attitude.

“Judging from the information that I received, yes; however, I don’t think you can just waltz right up there and say you wanna be cloned V.” Vik said as he started running his diagnostic and to his surprise, he found both engrams living in perfect harmony on the biochip. Of course, this was temporary as the biochip was still killing me, but not to the extent it was a few months ago, and with luck it should keep me alive for at least a year.

“Do you even have a plan?” Judy asked me and I looked Panam directly in the eyes knowing full well she was not going to like this one bit.

“I do, but it is a pretty shitty plan. Long story short, there is a rogue AI that embedded itself into the cyberware of one of the higher ups in Militech and he knows my connection to Alt Cunningham and Johnny Silverhand, as well as the raid on Mikoshi. From what Alt said, he’s gonna contact me to make a deal, though exactly what it is, I have no idea.” I said as Panam and the rest pondered this; it also meant that we would need to go back to NC and there was no guarantee of even getting out again.

* * *

My grumbling stomach had cut the meeting short much to my irritation and Panam assisted me over to the cantina; I found myself propped up against her shoulder and it must had been a strange sight considering our height difference. Vik, Misty, and Judy were heading back to Night City to prepare for their part in the contingency plan should the main plan go to hell in a hand basket. As I sat down at the table, Panam went up to the counter to get food for the both of us and sat back down; she too was hungrier than usual. While Panam never ate like a bird and could put food away, she never ate nearly as much as I do, so I figured something must have been up, stress probably.

“What?” She asked as she took a drink of water that she grabbed.

“Nothing; just looks like you were starving.” I said with a chuckle and earning a glare from her.

“Yeah, not entirely sure why either; I’ve been like this for a week now.” She sarcastically replied and rolled her eyes at me, obviously annoyed that I was worried about some trivial issue.

“Do you think its stress?” I asked her as she looked at me contemplating it; normally, if she was stressed out, she would just go work on her truck, not bury her face in food.

“More than likely.” She replied as I thought it over.

“You know, I could ring Vik up and ask him if he has any ideas.” I said as Panam gave it a thought before pointing out the camp had its own ripper doc.

“You do remember we have a ripper doc in camp, right?” Panam continued as she looked at me as I placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Yeah, but I figured a second opinion wouldn’t hurt, and you can always go to the camp ripper doc to confirm what Vik say.” I said as Panam thought it over before agreeing.

“Sure, why not, and when he says its stress than we can figure something out to relieve it.” Panam said as I finished my plate off, and we walked back to the tent and I called Vik.

“V, how’s it going?” Vik asked as his holocall background was dark, no doubt being night where he was at.

“Vik, I’ve got a question to ask you, and was wondering if you may have an answer.” I said as I also brought Panam into the holocall as well, much to Panam’s displeasure and Vik’s curiosity.

“Sure thing V, but is it about you, or Panam?” Vik asked; guess he saw right through it.

“Ugh, Panam this time; I promise.” I said as Vik just laughed.

“So Panam, what seems to be the issue?” Vik asked her as she went into detail over her increased food and liquid consumption over the past two weeks.

“Interesting, and by chance have you had muscle fatigue and tenderness in certain areas of your body?” Vik asked as Panam thought it over and confirmed it, not really thinking about it at the time.

“V, do you think you can give Panam and I some privacy?” Vik asked much to my confusion, but I agreed and looked at Panam reassuringly.

“I trust him; he’ll get to the bottom of it, I promise.” I told her before exiting the tent as Panam started going through some of the symptoms that she had been having.

* * *

It was near dusk when I made my way towards the center of the camp and found a guitar that was just chilling by the log that was set up by campfire. Taking it, I figured it would be interesting to see if Johnny’s skill with the guitar translated over to me as well, and I started plucking away at the strings, and to my amazement I was nearly as good as he was. Johnny materialized into existence and started stringing a guitar that somehow always managed to materialize with him as well and we started playing the notes to that stupid ass song “Pon Pon Shit” as well as “The Beast of Beauclair”. It was interesting in a way, as Pon Pon Shit while being the stupidest song out there, sounded good on a guitar and Beast of Beauclair was in a league all its own. Within minutes I noticed that we had attracted the majority of the Aldecaldos who were now sitting by the campfire just listening as I played the guitar and Mitch was even there as well.

“Damn V, I had no idea you could play a guitar” Mitch said as he sat down next to me and to be frank neither did I.

 **“We’re actually not bad together V; say, when I get my body back, you wanna reform Samurai and do concerts?”** Johnny asked, though he was joking because Panam would kill me if I decided to follow a rockerboy to play gigs. As I continued stringing the guitar to the tune of songs that came to my mind, mainly songs made by Johnny himself I saw Panam approaching with a serene look on her face. Guess Vik must have had good news and she sat down next to me and just watched, and I continued to play. As I continued to play, I started playing my favorite song from Samurai called Pitching In and it reminded me that I know have friends who’d go to hell and back for me.

As I finished the song, all the Aldecaldos were applauding the song’s stanza that I had just song; it must have had a resounding affect on them as they were now in spirits that I had not seen since before the Mikoshi raid. Panam herself was in awe as I never mentioned that I could either sing or play an instrument. I handed the guitar back to its owner who certainly had an act to follow up on, but from the look in his eyes, he looked like he was up to the challenge.

“So V, you got any other skills that you are good at should tell me about?” Panam asked as she looked me dead in the eye and I could see both the blush and smile forming on her face.

“Honestly, I never learned to play the guitar or how to sing; I was always good with mechanical and technical things.” I said as Panam looked at me

“Bullshit, you can’t just pick up a guitar one night and play it like that, and you can’t just pick up singing overnight.” Panam said as she lightly hit my shoulder.

“It’s the honest truth Panam; guess it’s something else I picked up from Johnny.” I said as Johnny nodded in agreement; hell, he even song the verse from March of Cambreadth which sounded amazing to my ears.

“Alright V, I believe you, but can you do me a favor?” Panam asked me.

“Anything.” I said before she smiled and had to stop herself from laughing.

“Go get a shower because you reek.” She said and I had just remembered that it must have been weeks since I last showered.

“Your wish is my command.” I said mockingly and headed off to where the shower trucks were set up, boy did I love combat showers.

* * *

After showering, I made my way back to the tent to find Panam was changing into her night gown, and a small smile gracing her lips. Whatever Vik must have told her had a profound impact on her seeing as not only was she at ease, but very happy too. Closing the flap to the tent and securing it, I snuck behind her and embraced her while kissing her neck.

“So, what did the doctor order?” I jokingly asked her as she turned around and wrapped her arms around me.

“Oh, nothing much; just to get more bed rest and eat healthier, oh, and to stay away from alcohol for the foreseeable future.” She told me as I looked at the gorgeous women before me; hell, she even let her hair down and to my surprise, it flowed all the way down to her ass. 

“Panam Palmer, staying away from beer; I think not.” I joked as she hit me in the shoulder and laughed.

“Normally I’d agree, but the doctor had a pretty compelling argument, but I am beat; let’s hit the hay.” She said as she pulled me into the bedding, and she fell asleep quickly just leaving me with my thoughts. An interesting turn of events if I had to say so myself, though I feel like this was still too good to be true and wondered what the cost would be. Wrapping my arm around Panam’s wait and laying a hand on her stomach, I started to doze off but with the strange sensation that her belly was harder than usual.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note 1: Oddly enough, this chapter was very easy to write and I hope you enjoyed it; I for one had a blast typing it up. As for Panam’s health issue, I figured I would leave it somewhat vague and let you all do the guessing. Though I got a feeling that many will come to the same conclusion.
> 
> Note 2: I debated between two possible ways of bringing Johnny back, and felt that cloning would have been a more viable option to fully separate V and Johnny forever in the least intrusive way possible. It’s also safe to say that cloning must had come a good ways in 2077 with the amount that corps would be willing to put into R&D.
> 
> Note 3: To be honest, it took my a day to write this chapter up and two days to revise it and edit some aspects of it, but I may pull it depending on how it's received and rewrite it. Please let me know how you felt about the chapter.


	6. Old friends

Authors note: This will probably be my last chapter until this weekend, but I will also be doing some one-shots for what I assume will be a collection. I’ve already got the first one posted under the name **Welcome to Night City** and I hope you enjoy this chapter and if you read that one-shot, that one as well.

* * *

I awoke to the feeling of a partially empty bed, and as I gathered my bearings, I noticed that Panam was already up and about. I looked at the holo-time on my optics and gasped that I’d been out for twelve hours, seeing as it was near noon and camp lunch was just starting, boy was I starving. After getting dressed, I made my way down to the cantina truck and looked over what they had to offer today and to my surprise they had locust meat sausage, potatoes, and bread. Grabbing a plate, I sat down at the lone empty table and started to eat before realizing that I had forgotten my drink, so I went back up and grabbed a glass of water. Walking back to my table, I could hear Panam and Mitch talking about a potential cure to my ailment in NC and how best to handle that situation as they were walking to get some food. Mitch was the first to notice me and waved which got Panam’s attention and she looked my direction as a smile plastered her face. The two got their food and drinks and proceeded to join me at the table; Mitch deciding to initiate conversation.

“Morning sleeping beauty; didn’t think you’d wake up today.” Mitch sarcastically said as I glared at him and he just laughed some more,

“How’d you sleep V?” Panam asked me with a soft but caring volume.

“Like a puppy; that’s a cozy little shoulder you got there.” I jokingly said as Panam snorted obviously remembering that conversation from when we rescued Saul much to Mitch’s confusion. 

“Eh, something I’m missing here?” Mitch asked as Panam and I turned to him and just laughed.

“Nothing much; just a conversation V and I had back in NC after we rescued Saul.” Panam said nonchalantly as she took a decent bit out of her sausage and my glare convincing Mitch to drop it.

“Right; well, while you were out, we made contact with some of your old friends in the Bakker clan and to our surprise you were not the only one to get out after what happened.” Mitch as I processed this information, if more got our and were soloing it, than perhaps we could convince them to join us.

“Interesting; how are they?” I asked as Mitch handed me two contacts, and to my surprise they were the ones who got me into the Bakkers to begin with, Mikah and John. Panam herself was interested now as she looked over the file and wondered what the job was that they needed help with.

“What job are they asking us for assistance with?” She asked as I thought over the situation, I too was wondering what they needed help with.

“Apparently, a small-town sheriff contracted them out to exterminate a highway gang, though from what I understand, they are unrelated to the Raffen Shiv.” Mitch said as I processed this information and considered we could use the eddies and possible two old time vets.

“When do they need help?” I asked as Mitch and Panam looked at me, smirking knowing full well what I was planning.

“If we leave today then we can meet him at the old motel that we use to do supply trades with the Bakkers.” Mitch said as I thought it over and agreed.

“Agreed; if we leave now than we can meet up in roughly three days and formulate a plan.” I said as Mitch and Panam thought it over and agreed as well.

“One thing though, should we take the Panzer?” Mitch asked as Panam and I looked at one another and as if on the same page we determined using the Panzer would be worth the risk.

“No, taking the Panzer would draw to much attention to us, and fact of the matter is Arasaka is still trying to figure out where we even got off to.” I said as Panam agreed with my assessment, and should all go well, then we wouldn’t need the Panzer to begin with.

“That’s actually a valid point V, so, just the three of us then?” Mitch continued as Panam thought it over and decided the three of us would go as a means of attracting less attention to ourselves, and with her truck, we can eliminate any threat before it rears its ugly head.

“Let’s mount up and let them know where to meet us; V, you’re with me, we need to talk.” Panam said as I followed her to her truck before she told me that she wanted me to be the one driving.

* * *

It didn’t take us long to leave the camp; probably fifteen minutes at the most after we gathered guns and ammo. As I was driving down the old interstate, I could see that Panam was fidgeting with her fingers and knew something must had been up. She normally would never act like this, but maybe it had to do with her talk with Vik last night.

“You good Panam?” I nervously asked her as she looked at me and smiled.

“I’m great V, there’s nothing to worry about.” She told me and that somewhat set me at ease.

“So, what did Vik have to say last night?” I finally asked her and noticed that she untucked her shirt and pulled it up to her chest before grabbing my hand and placing it on her belly.

“Well, he said that we are expecting a child.” She nervously said as I took that information in and

“Wait, you mean you’re pregnant?” I asked her and she smiled

“Yep, and you’re the first to know; I plan on telling the rest when we get back to camp, though we are gonna need to find a crib or just make one from scratch.” She said as I turned my head back towards the road to keep an eye out, a mixture of emotions plastered on my face, but also a new determination to get cured.

 **“Damn V, let me be the first to congratulate you.”** I heard Johnny say as he materialized into the back seat all lounged out like he use to back in NC.

“Sounds like a preem plan Panam; if you need anything at all from me, just let me know.” I told her as my holophone started ringing and much to my annoyance the number was unregistered.

“Hold up a minute Panam; I’ve got a call coming through, though it isn’t telling me from who.” I said as I answered the holocall.

“V here.” I said and to my surprise the figure was entirely darkened out where not even his eyes could be distinguished; must be that AI alt told me about.

“V, we’ve heard much about your exploits with Arasaka, as well as your ‘condition’ and would like to set up a meet. I believe we can help each other out, and you’ll get a second lease on life.” The mysterious stranger said, but the way he spoke sent me on edge; last time I had any type of dealings with mysterious strangers, they straight up threatened me when I was doing a job for the Peralez’s.

“Right, well, do you happen to have a name?” I asked as the figure who just simply shrugged.

“My name is not important, but what is important is you don’t have much time left, and I’m the only chance you got at surviving past a year.” He said as an assistant came into view and handed him a data shard.

“And why exactly are you my only chance at surviving?” I was skeptical of this person, but if my hunch was correct than this may be my only.

“Let’s just say that my employers know about your biochip and are eager to get their hands on it; therefor they have agreed to a one-for-one swap. You give us the biochip and we fix the damage it has done to your body.” He said, but I was still not buying it; for all I know they could be Arasaka agents hired by Yorinobu to exact out revenge for both raids on Arasaka.

“And what assurance do I have that you are true to your word; last I checked my bodies DNA was largely reconfigured for the engram on the biochip.” I said as the mysterious stranger locked his hands together before his eyes flashed a bright blue and I started receiving a data packet much to my surprise and horror. This individual was able to bypass my ICE as well as other protective programs like it was nothing, but to my relief it came through virus free.

“Look at those files and you may find some interesting information.” He said as I opened the folder and to my horror my entire deeds in NC was there. From entering NC and delivering an Iguana, the Biochip heist, my meetings with Panam, and even the Mikoshi heist. There was literally no stone unturned, and I knew this information must had cost a fortune to acquire and they had leverage over me, or so they thought. However, to my surprise there was another folder that was titled DNA; opening it I found that there was an intact strand of DNA labeled Vincent.

 **“Fuck V, I don’t like this one bit; this smells like shit and this corpo fucker obviously cannot be trusted.”** Johnny said through our shared neural link, and I had to agree with him on that. Whoever these people were, they had friends in very high places, and we needed to tread carefully. No doubt they have the resources to track the Aldecaldos down and if they really wanted to, eliminate us with extreme prejudice.

“Meet me at the Sunset Motel in one week.” He said before disconnecting the link and leaving me with my thoughts.

“V, what was that about?” Panam asked me and was worried how my entire mood changed, and so I told her and not leaving out a single detail.

“What do you think Panam; you think this could be legit?” I asked her and she pondered it over.

“I’m not sure, but I think a good idea would be to send that DNA sample over to Vik for analysis.” She said and I agreed; pulling up Vik’s number, I called him up and he answered pretty quickly.

“V, how’s it going, Panam tell you the good news?” Leave it to Vik to kill two birds with one stone.

“Everything is going good Vik, and she told me; however, I’m calling because I need you to look into something for me. Also, I have patched Panam in as well so she can be up to date as we discuss this.” I said as Vik’s face betrayed the look of intrigue as I sent him the folder and he ran a diagnostic on it; his reaction to it all but confirmed my fears. As I sent the folder, I also patched Panam in and the three-way communication was encrypted so that no one could intercept our conversation.

“V, I need you to be honest with me; where did you get this?” Vik asked me as I explained the situation to him, and much to his annoyance and horror, someone managed to hack into his database and klep data on me, and who knows what else. Vik himself knew that if these people were capable of that, then there was no telling what else they would be capable of. After waiting two minutes, Vik was alerted that the DNA testing was complete and read the report comparing the two.

“V, this DNA sample is the exact same one that I have on file from when you first came to Night City; whoever these people are, I would suggest you stay well clear of them.” Vik said as Panam decided to ask him a question as well.

“Vik; I was curious if you would happen to know if the child that I’m carrying has V’s DNA, or the DNA that was integrated onto the biochip for Silverhand?” She asked, though it would make no difference as it was me and her who conceived the child, not Silverhand and her.

“You’ve got nothing to fear Panam; V’s DNA didn’t start to get overwritten until the very last minute. I reckon your child was already conceived by then, but you just were not aware.” Vik said as the worried look that Panam had melted away and a small grin adorned her lips.

* * *

We arrived at the old, dilapidated motel early and decided to enter one of the rooms that still happened to be open, and to my surprise there was power still being supplied. Looking around the room, I could tell that while the perfect little spot for a escapade, it was uncomfortably open. Panam had decided to lounge out on the couch that adorned the east wall and Mitch and I joined her. Sitting down, I pulled a table up to place my legs and Panam decided to use my legs as a leg rest again, much like that night in that old house after we rescued Saul from his imprisonment. Mitch wasn’t even sitting for a minute before he got back up and told us he was gonna go look for some alcohol leaving us alone.

“Should I fear a health code violation?” I sarcastically asked Panam causing her to snort as she started tracing her figures over her thighs to tease me.

“Oh no, I wouldn’t want to put Mitch through that; though I’d watch what you say next otherwise you’ll be spending the night with your hands off my thighs.” Panam sarcastically replied as she slapped me on the shoulder.

“Panam, you can be so cruel sometimes.” I jokingly said as she pulled one of my arms to her thigh and I gave her a good squeeze with my reward being a small moan escaping her lips.

“Only to you V.” She quipped as we heard engines off in the distance, no doubt our contact was about to arrive.

"Well, sounds like we got company." I said as I got up and turned towards Panam to help her up as well.

“Such a gentleman V.” She smailed as she said that, and with vigor we made our way outside to meet some old friends of mine, ones I had not seen since leaving the Bakkers.

* * *

Panam, Mitch, and I are waiting outside under the shade of a overhang; the temperature at this time of day was well over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Mikah and John parked next Panam’s truck and walked up to greet us, at least until they noticed me standing next to Panam. Interestingly enough, they still had their Thorton Galena Rattler and it appears to be in really good shape; though it couldn’t hold a candle to my Mizutani Shion “Coyote”. And then there was Panam’s truck, damn beast was in a league all its own; just as it’s driver was in a league all her own, and she was mine.

“Damn V, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” John said in his thick Tennessee accent, it amazes me he never lost it considering how long he’s been out west.

“It’s good seeing the two of you again.” I said as I shook their hands, and Mikah looked me over from head to toe.

“Riding with the Aldecaldos now I see; guess Night City didn’t work out after all.” Mikah said as

“How ya doin Mitch, it’s been a while.” John said as he proceeded to shake Mitch’s hand, and turned to Panam and addressed her as well. “And if I ain’t wrong, your name is Panam.” He added as she greeted him.

“Where’s Scorpion and Saul?” Mikah asked and noticed how Mitch and Panam had looked saddened at their names.

“They passed away a few months back.” Panam said as Mikah and John took that info in.

“Damn shame, both were good people.” Mikah said as both he and John were saddened by the passing of their friend.

“Who’s leading the Aldecaldos now?” John asked as Mitch and I pointed to Panam.

“That’d be me, though I understand you’ll are no longer with the Bakkers.” Panam said as she was trying to get clarification on their situation.

“That’s correct; V was the catalyst for many former Bakkers to leave. We realized what he said was true months down the line and Carol made the decision for us.” John said as that intrigued me greatly, sounds like the whole joining Snake Nation did more harm than good for Carol.

“Though Carol was right on one thing; V was never one to stay away from being a Nomad seeing as he’s riding with you now. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s the story with you becoming an Aldecaldo.” Mikah asked me.

“Perhaps we should head inside; it’s much cooler in there than out here.” I said as the five of us walked inside and sat down on the U-shaped couch, the first thing that caught Mikah and John’s eye though was how Panam was scooched really close to me. Mitch placed a bottle of Kentucky Whiskey that he found on the table as well as three shot glasses and poured some for the three of ‘em, also telling ‘em that Panam and I were no longer drinking. It took about an hour to two to tell them my story of what happened, and towards the end they pieced together that Panam and I were a couple now.

“And you two became a couple after doing some solo work together.” Mikah said as John smirked; it was obvious to anyone paying attention that fateful day when I met the Aldecaldos for the first time.

“It wasn’t after a few jobs; Panam wanted to take things slow and we did. I invited her on some of my Solo contracts and paid her of course, but it gave us time to get to know one another.” I explained as they took that in, obviously proud that I had managed to find someone that I could share life with.

“So tell me, what was the craziest job you two lovebirds went on.” Mikah asked as Panam snorted in annoyance and thought about a gig that we had and the perfect one came to mind.

“Hey Panam, you remember ‘Beep Beep Motherfucker’, right?” I asked as she burst out laughing at that; that fucking Delamain was something else.

“Oh my god, how could I forget.” Panam snorted as she struggled to catch a breath.

“Shit V, you never mentioned anything about a cursing cab AI.” Mitch told me and he was right, I never did mention Delamain.

“Alright, but it’s gonna be kinda long. So, I’m driving Panam to my apartment one day and we come across this Delamain cab and we get a call from it. Lo and behold, the damn thing says ‘Beep Beep Motherfucker’ and tries to run me off the road much to Panam’s horror and my irritation at the time. You see, AI taxies are not supposed to do that, so when you get a homicidal AI that’s chasing you through Night City, things get interesting.” I said as Johnny materialized and was laughing as well as he remembered our first encounter with that rogue Delamain in the garage.

 **“Shit, I remember that gonk taxi; should have let it live it’s life and programmed it to go after Arasaka.”** Johnny said we could just imagine a Delamain chasing Arasaka agents through NC.

“Or, what about that one Delamain that you had to talk out of committing suicide?” Panam added as I remember that one as well, though it was not as funny as the overtly hostile Delamain. Sure enough, everyone was laughing so hard that trying to catch a breath proved futile; hell, thinking back on it even made me laugh.

“Well, guess we don’t have anything that could come even remotely close to that.” Mitch said as she struggled to take a sip of his whiskey and John and Mikah agree. Finishing my story, we finally got down to the matter as to why we were here, and why they needed help. A highway bandit gang had set up shop in a abandoned gas station and was wreaking havoc on the locals.

* * *

One of the modifications that I made to overwatch was the introduction of a Thermal scope as well as an electronic range finder; Panam herself was intrigued at these modifications as well how I engraved her name onto the barrel. Taking it out from its protective case, I handed her over to Panam; she and I were going to provide overwatch for Mikah, Mitch, and John as they entered the bandit’s base of operation. While I would usually go in with them, my injuries were still not healed up completely so I was relegated to net running which would prove far more useful anyways. Panam and I also decided that thanks to her pregnancy, it would be best if she was more in a support role to stay out of direct danger; though it also helped that she was a very deadly shot with the rifle, and having a thermal scope made it even deadlier. I also did a major upgrade to the thermal sight as well, though it required me to be jacked into it so that Panam could see exactly what I was seeing through my optical implants. It didn’t take all that long to kill the bandits seeing as there was about fifteen total and with overwatch support as well as net running, they never knew what hit them.

“So, where are you two off to now?” Mitch asked as John and Mikah looked at him.

“Well, we’re gonna go collect the money for this job, but assuming it’s alright with Panam, we’d like to ride with the Aldecaldos.” Mikah said as John agreed, though it also helped that Mitch and I could vouch for ‘em if need be.

“We’d love to have you’ll, and it’d be great for us to have more vets with us.” Panam said with a smile and

“Right, well, we should be getting back to camp before Raffen’s decide to show up.” Mitch said as everyone mounted up and we high tailed it out of there. 

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note 1: For those who are wondering who Mikah and John are, they are two OC that I made in a one-shot that I posted not to long ago titled “Welcome to Night City”. It’s a prologue of sort for The Nomad mission and gave a bit more back story into my V and how he met Panam and some of the Aldecaldos before traveling to NC.
> 
> Note 2: I wanted to thank everyone who have followed, left comments, and overall decided to read this story.


	7. Old Friends pt. 2

**Authors Note:**

* * *

**Old Friends pt. 2**

The ride back to the Aldecaldo camp took less time than I imagined and thankfully Panam decided to drive this time. Looking out at the dusty planes, I couldn’t help but feel that maybe my lot in life was finally turned around. Looking at Panam, I could tell that the cogs in her brain were whirling around and I decided to see what was on her mind.

“Can I ask you something V?” Panam asked me, surprising me seeing as she’d usually stew over whatever she was thinking about before either taking her anger out on a poor rock, or just chocking it up as idiotic.

“I don’t know, can you?” I joked with her before noticing her glare and half smile; while she was annoyed at the answer, she knew she walked right into that one.

“Fine smartass, may I ask you something.” Panam said with a huff before laughing.

“Sure thing beautiful.” I said as I placed a hand on her thigh which caused her to moan into a sight.

“Since I’ve known you, you’ve always gone by V; what’s it stand for?” She asked me to my shock, I thought I had already shared that with her.

“Vincent.” I told her as she took that in, and I could see her silently saying it.

“Vincent, huh, tell me, why do you go by V?” She asked me and something about her saying Vincent made my heart flutter like it was gonna beat itself out of my chest.

“To be honest, only those closest to me even know that my name is Vincent.” I said as she processed that info.

“So, do I happen to count as those closest to you?”

“Sure do, but you can still call me V should you like to.” I said as she looked at me with a playful smirk.

“Not a chance in hell Vincent, though I’ll still call you V whenever we are in a firefight.” She said as I smiled at that, not gonna lie, it’ll be nice having her call me Vincent. Looking down, I notice that my hand was still on her thigh, so I brought it up slightly to her vagina and started rubbing it much to her pleasure and I could see that Panam was enjoying it.

“Vincent, not right now; I’m driving, but once we get back to camp.” Panam was only able to moan out as I pulled my hand away understanding her reasoning.

“Promise?” I asked her as she laughed.

“I promise, and I’ll make it worth your while.” She smirked and gave me a very seductive smile.

* * *

**Lemon scene ahead, you’ve been warned.**

“So, what did you have in mind?” My curiosity had been peaked and noticed that Panam was leading me back towards

“Remember our first time in the Basilisk? From what I recall, we never got to finish because of those fucking Raffen Shiv, so I thought round two was needed.” She said as we rounded the bend and came to the area that the Basilisk was sitting at, in all its glory.

“Sweet; round two being linked neurally; I’m liking the sound of this already.” I said as we hopped up onto the Basilisk and started it up.

“I was actually thinking about this for a while, and when I found out that I’m pregnant; I figured now will be the best time before I get too big to fit into here.” She said as she lightly slapped her belly while my thoughts quickly raced to that dream I had, and I could only imagine how exquisite she would still look, even when she herself would feel terrible being that big.

“Mitch, Vincent and I are gonna take the Panzer out for some recon.” Panam said as Mitch waved us away, and we soon found ourselves about thirty minutes outside of camp. Without a moment to lose, Panam and I were both connected to each other via the neural port and we could feel what the other was feeling, though this time it felt much more intense than it originally was.

“Damn Panam, this feels much stronger now than it did before.” I was barely able to get that out as Panam started to remove her clothes; first revealing her supple breasts and caramel-colored nipples.

“I know.” Was all Panam was able to squeak out before her pants were removed and her full form was revealed to me and I myself was fully nude. Looking over Panam, I could see the small bump starting to form in her belly, and her breasts looked a little bit bigger now than they did a few weeks ago, but overall, she still maintained her slim figure. Panam herself never once cared about her figure, though with the amount of traveling we did, she didn’t have much need to anyways, and the Nomad lifestyle never afforded one to get fat. Looking over, I could see Panam was itching for me to pleasure her, to the point that her legs were spread like a mare in heat. Grabbing her hand, I helped guide her over to my side of the tank and she sat down onto me, though not taking my shaft into her just yet.

Looking over Panam, I could tell that she was extremely aroused at this point and slapping her ass only served to arouse her even more, and I could feel that her core was not only super wet at this point, but her whole body was shivering from arousal. I placed my hands upon her breasts and squeezed each nipple as Panam grabbed my erection and proceeded to guide herself onto it.

“Oh Vincent.” Panam moaned out as our tongues became intertwined and our heart beats matched, and she gradually but steadily started to speed up riding me. Before long, she was riding me really fast and from what I saw on her face, her orgasm was imminent and all I had to do was hold out long enough so that she could finish in pure ecstasy.

Just hearing her moan out my name was enough to send me over the edge and I firmly grasped Panam’s ass as I came inside of her; feeling me cum was more than enough to make her cum as well. As we both finished, Panam was heavily panting as she collapsed on top of me. The look on her face is priceless for me, a mixture of ecstasy, pure happiness, and love. 

“Panam?”

“Yeah?” Panam asked as she returned to her set in the Panzer, and her breathing was starting to return to normal.

“I love you.” I said as a smile graced her lips and we locked hands.

“I love you too.” She said as her smile grew even brighter and she started to put her clothes back on; same as me.

“Well, guess we should be getting back to camp before Mitch starts to get worried and sends out a search party.” I said as Panam chuckled at that.

* * *

The ride back to camp was much quicker than I’d prefer, though arriving before dusk was a good thing. Getting caught out after dark in the bad lands is usually never a good thing and fraught with danger ranging from Raffen to Scavs who made their way out here. With precision, I piloted the Basilisk back into the tent that we kept it stored in as a means of protecting it from prying eyes as well as the elements. After shutting down the Basilisk, we were greeted by Mitch, John, and Mikah who had been waiting for us knowing that we decided to take some time to have a little fun as well. Getting out, I noticed that Panam was already ordering people about though she did tell the mechanics that she and I would clean the Panzer.

“You two have fun?” Mitch asked me as he elbowed me in the side.

“Yep.” I said as I walked to Join Panam in whatever it was that she decided to go do and left Mitch, John, and Mikah to their selves.

“So; what’s the story on those two?” 

“Eh, it’s a pretty long tale.” Mitch said as he took out three beers and handed two to Mikah and John and started recounting their time in the NC badlands.

**Flashback**

The vets that made up Saul’s inner circle were sitting around a campfire; it was roughly twelve hours since Panam and V had launched a risky and dangerous rescue of the Aldecaldos beloved leader. The mood around camp had been doing better since Panam came back into the picture bringing Night Cities premier merc with her. The betting pool that the vets made was also growing with pretty much the entire camp pitching in; the bet being how long it would take Panam and V to get together. Everyone knew there was a burning inferno between the two and they just kept tip toeing around it like it didn’t exist, which for Mitch and the rest of the vets was hilarious. Even Saul had joined in after witnessing firsthand how close Panam and V were getting after being rescued the day prior, and even though he’d never say it out loud, he was grateful for Panam bringing her lover along as the two made a great team. He was also thankful that their playful conversation did not turn more serious and eventually leading to sex.

“So, any interesting news with our camps favorite lovebirds.” Mitch asked as Carol, Cassidy, Bob, and Saul looked at him before grabbing a drink.

“Not sure, but I still don’t like it; Panam falling for an outsider.” Saul said as Mitch looked him dead in the eye.

“Need I remind you that said outsider has saved not one, but two Aldecaldos lives now?” Mitch laced that sentence with enough tact that even Saul had to take a step back mentally to think about what he just said.

“I agree with Saul, but let’s not forget to mention all the good that ‘outsider’ has done for Panam; hell, he even convinced her to return to the family.” Carol said as Cassidy and Bob agreed with her on that.

“I think it’s safe to say he’s more than earned the right to be an Aldecaldo” Bob said as Saul processed that tidbit but was still unsure how he viewed V; sure, he rescued Saul, but that could have been just to try and get into Panam’s pants.

“And let’s not forget to mention that if things keep progressing as they are, both he and Panam may be the much-needed kick in the backside that this family so desperately needed.” Mitch said as the other’s silently agreed with him, well, apart from Saul that is.

“And how do we know that V isn’t in it just to fuck Panam and then ghost her?” Saul said as the others thought about it, but Mitch was unconcerned.

“I highly doubt he’d do that; hell, the kid himself even told me that he has not laid with any women inside of Night City; though I can’t blame him on that one.” Mitch said thinking back to the conversation they had after sending Scorpion off.

“Interesting; with the amount of fame that kid is getting, you’d think women would be practically throwing themselves at him.” Saul mentioned as he remembered back to the few times that he’d actually spoken to V.

“From what Panam has told me, V is on some kind of warpath though I’ve yet to figure out exactly why.” Mitch explained as he started to connect the dots as to the possible severity of it.

“You think Panam could drag us into V’s vendetta?”

“I don’t think so, but I also don’t think it’s a vendetta either.”

“What do you think it is then?” Saul’s curiosity had gotten the better of him and wondered if maybe there was more to this whole situation then what meets the eye.

“Simply put; I’d wager someone’s life is on the line. I’ve seen enough from the unification war to know that look in V’s eyes; he’s on a mission and won’t stop until it’s finished.” Mitch explained before getting up to work on his car.

* * *

Hours had passed and the vets realized that camp supper was ready when the great migration to the cantina truck started, and they themselves got up to get something to eat. Arriving at the cantina truck, they noticed that V and Panam were already seated with food and water and were going over a plan if they had to guess. What the plan was though would be anyone’s guess, though it most certainly had to either be about possible Raffen Shiv or V’s predicament. While the promise of a cure was enticing enough, the fact that the messenger was unnerving made things stressful. Panam and I went over possible outcomes of this rouge AI and why he’d want to help us; there must be a catch that we can’t figure out. One thing for sure though, this coming week would be interesting and hopefully Panam and I could use this to our advantage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this one took me longer to write than I anticipated. Unfortunately, my work has gone back to ten hour shifts five days a week, so I won't be able to update more than once a week now. Thank you. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

**Authors note: Welcome back and I hope everyone’s had a wonderful week; it certainly was interesting. I also wanted to thank everyone who left a comment, and has been following this story.  
**

* * *

**Strange People**

The week had gone by faster than I could have imagined, and we were on the dawn of returning to Night City yet again. Five days ago, Panam sent three Aldecaldos into Night City limits to set up a base of operations for us when we would arrive, and yesterday we received word that said base was up in running. I had to admit, Mitch, Mikah and John certainly knew how to operate; guessing that had to do with being in the Army. Looking about the camp, I could tell that the general mood could never be better and if all things go as planned, then we should be back in time for us to pack up and head to the Aldecaldo hub in Tuscon Arizona; Panam and I have some business to attend to there. This whole situation was surreal to me, on the one hand this could be a trap by Arasaka but the possibility of finally getting my body back for good was just to much temptation to ignore and Panam had developed a contingency plan just in case things we ass up.

“Vincent, good of you to join us.” Panam said as I walked into the command tent and sat down next to her; noticing that she had a map of Night City with potential exit routes.

“Seems like you’ve been busy.” I told her as she looked at me and smirked.

“Yep, someone’s gotta make the plans around here, and it sure as hell ain’t gonna be you.” She replied while slightly teasing me.

“Oh, and why’s that?” I replied back while making a fake hurt expression.

“While you are great at tactical analysis, you lack the strategical aspects of planning; luckily, that’s why you got me.” She said as she winked at me and she did have a point.

“So, what’s the great Panam Palmer got cooking for going back to NC?” I asked her as she looked back over the map, and then back to me.

“Glad you asked; I’ve already found several potential exit points; however, once we are finished at Militech, we need to lay low for about a week and I’m already in contact with an ally to secure a safe house.” She said as I looked over it, boy was she planning for the long haul.

“You really think this ally would help us?” I asked her as she smiled and nodded.

“Yep; seems you made a real impression on them so I wouldn’t cock this up if I were you.” She jokingly said as I looked around. 

“So, tell me; how exactly are they gonna help us?” I asked her; while I did have good realations with the fixers, I highly doubt they’d actually be willing to risk their necks should things go ass up with Militech.

“Well, they are gonna provide a Delemain AV as our exfil

“What’s their names?” I asked

“I only have a codename, and it’s Ronin and Samurai.” She said as I processed that information.

“Ronin and Samurai? Interesting choice of codenames, and if I had to guess, Samurai would be Goro Takemura, though Ronin is a mystery to me. I thought Takemura was dead after he and I kidnapped Hanako Arasaka, but I guess he managed to come out alive; though I don’t believe we can trust him.” I said as Panam looked at me skeptically

“Why not?” She asked as I explained the whole situation with how Takemura was Sabura Arasaka’s bodyguard and that the fact that Hanako was now dead meant he had a good reason to want vengeance against me.

“What about this Ronin character though, any ideas on who he or she may be?” I asked Panam who just shook her head no.

The planning phase for this potential Militech meeting was practically done and all that left was us going to the meeting spot; however, a few days back I got a text from the mysterious stranger who said that he secured an AV that could pick us up outside the border of Night City, and I sent coordinates of an area that I was hoping to never return to; the small town that I meet Jackie Welles for the first time. If I had to guess, that sheriff still had a power pole shoved so far up his ass and he’s one person I’d like to put on my ‘do not meet ever again’ list. The town itself on the other hand was nothing to write home about apart from the fact that its population was slowly moving away, and it too would soon become a ghost town.

* * *

We arrived at the meeting place where the AV was supposed to pick us up, and to our surprise it arrived not to long after us and to our surprise a middle-aged bald man exited the AV and greeted us. Something about this man sent shivers down my spin, and he looked sinister enough without that intimidating gaze that he had. Both Panam and I were uncomfortable as he sized us from head to toe and proceeded to speak. I do have to admit though, he has a way with words, and his tone was both beautiful and intimidating at the same time.

“Greetings, I’m V and this here is Panam.” I said as I put my hand out to shake the mysterious stranger’s hand, only for him to look at me.

“I know who you are; I’ve come to escort the two of you back to Night City.” He said as he motioned for us to board the AV; part of me wanted to say fuck this and let’s find another way, but I only had so much time remaining, and I also wanted to be around for when our first born is to arrive.

“Can we at least get your name?” Panam demanded as the terrifying man looked at us.

“I’m Dr. O’Dimm, assistant to Mr. Blue Eyes, the lead on this new experimental procedure.” He simply stated and the way he did sent shivers down my back.

“So, is there any chance that you can explain what this procedure entails?” I asked Dr. O’Dimm who simply looked at me with that menacing gaze.

“Nothing that’ll make sense to you, but what I can say is that while your husk will remain the same, your entire DNA code with the restructured to prior to slotting the Relic in; this in sense will make it where your body will stop eating itself alive thinking it’s a foreign pathogen to kill.” He said in a way that not only made me uneasy. Looking over at Panam, I could tell that she too was on edge and ready to bail from the AV only for the intercom to come on and Dr. O’Dimm to answer it.

“We are nearing Militech HQ and will be landing shortly.” Dr. O’Dimm said as I could feel the landing gear start to deploy; within minutes we are on the roof of Militech and overlooking Night City. Getting off the AV, Panam and I were led into an elevator that took us town to what appeared to be a level used solely for conferences. Panam and I took a seat at the table and awaited Mr. Blue Eyes to arrive to explain the whole process to us and what to expect, and if on cue in came Mr. Blue Eyes himself.

“Greeting’s V; I’ve heard a lot about your exploits.” Mr. Blue Eyes said as he grabbed a glass of water and sat down at the head of the table with two tablets being placed in front of him. 

“And you must be Panam Palmer; I’ve heard so much about the two of you.” He shifted his gaze over to Panam and smiled, though something about him had put us on edge.

“Oh really, and what is that?” Panam asked incredulously,

“Well, they call you the ‘Queen of the Highway’, and V as the ‘Scourge of Arasaka’ or the ‘second coming of Johnny Silverhand’.” He explained as I was shocked to find out that other mercs as well as gangoons were referring to me as that now. Though the ‘second coming of Johnny Silverhand’ was literal as he and I are sharing a brain after all, and if this corposhit new that, he would not be dealing with us.

“So, why’s it that you are interested in helping me out with my Relic issue?” I asked Mr. Blue Eyes who shifted his gaze back to me and pondered the question for a moment.

“Simply put, you’ve got no other choice. We have the technology to save your life, and you have technology that we’d like to have.” Mr. Blue Eyes stated as I thought over; however, it made no sense. If they wanted it, all they had to do was forcibly remove it.

“And why not just simply forcibly remove it from me?” I asked him.

“Simply put, if we were to forcibly remove the Relic from your neck, it would fry out both itself and you as a defense mechanism; however, if we were to slot you into an Arasaka made medical center and spoof it into believe it’s Arasaka that’s trying to retrieve, then it’s failsafe would not activate and we’d both benefit from it.” Dr. O’Dimm mentioned as he opened a double door that led into a technologically advanced medical suite with all the fixings from Arasaka; how the hell did they even manage to get this?

“If you’ll follow me, we can begin this procedure.” Mr. Blue Eyes said as Panam and I followed him into the medical suite.

“V, you’ll need to get into the ice tub so that we can slot into your neural link.” Dr. O’Dimm said

“I hate these ice tubs.” I complained as Panam gave me her ‘don’t be a little bitch’ look and assisted me getting into the tub. A nurse that I failed to notice earlier walked up to my ice tub and handed me a connector for the neural link and proceeded to line up the ‘molecular reintegration machine’ to my head. According to Dr. O’Dimm, this machine would be used to inject my original DNA back into my brain, from which it would cause a complete rewrite of my entire body on a molecular level. Unknown to them is that I was able to swap the DNA that they modified with my original DNA so they were not going to have a mindless tool to use. What made me do a double take though was that there was a cloning machine in the same room and was also hooked up and activated, though for some unknown reason.

“This procedure will take hours, so be ready.” The nurse said as she pulled up two office chairs so that Panam could sit too.

“One thing V; this procedure will be painful, so we are going to give you strong drugs to counteract it; okay.” Mr. Blue Eyes told as another nurse came up a tray that had a large syringe with some unknown liquid. She proceeded to inject me with it, and to my surprise my whole body became numb like I was getting some cyberware upgrades. With a bright blinding light, the machines were activated, and a large display came up that gave not only my vitals, but also how far along the procedure was.

* * *

Hours went by and I was still chilling in the tub with Panam at my side and I could see that the procedure was coming to a close, and to my surprise the anesthetic was starting to ware off. The first feeling that I could tell was the extreme cold as well as the burning sensation that is present inside my body, but other than that I felt better then I have since the relic. I also took notice of the cloning machine and it was damn near done as well and I could see a figure inside of it, but wasn’t sure who it was. This was not what was agreed upon and Mr. Blue Eyes would have some explaining to do as I didn’t come here to have two V’s made, but to get my body back.

“Well, looks like the procedure is nearly done; tell me V, how are you feeling?” Mr. Blue Eyes asked as he was smirking like the devil himself.

“Honestly, I feel great.” I said gauging his body language and noticed that he started chuckling.

“Perfect because now we have our own super soldier to do our bidding.” He said as Panam’s face flashed with anger.

“What the fuck do you mean by that.” She growled at Mr. Blue Eyes who simply shrugged.

“You two really think I’d give V a second chance at life out of the goodness of my heart; fuck that, we altered his DNA sample, and you were dumb enough to fall for it.” Dr. O’Dimm said

“And to prove it to you……” Mr. Blue Eyes stated as the screen started flashing before the avatar of Alt Cunningham appeared on screen and overwrote the security protocall to prevent Militech security from getting inside.

“And you were stupid enough to think I’d not have that same analyzed and changed should the need arise.” I said as I disconnected from the machine, and while I was not at a hundred percent, I was good enough to fight.

 **”Mr. Blue Eyes, we meet at last.”** The avatar of Alt Cunningham said as she activated the turrets in the room and had each one lock onto the Militech employees.

“Alt. Cunningham; should have figured you’d be mixed up in this.” Mr. Blue Eyes said as he saw the cloning machine start to depressurize and smirked knowing that his fail safe should still be safe.

 **“You think your little fail safe, or what you planned to do with V would slip past me? Your arrogance knows no bounds and today you shall perish.”** Alt’s avatar stated as the realization dawned on him that he was not only outsmarted by a pair of nomads, but also the supreme net runner of Night City. It was then that I noticed that Dr. O’Dimm had managed to get to an intercom when no one was paying attention.

“This is Dr. O’Dimm, activate Code Red; level 92 has been compromised and we need back up immediately.” He said as the turrets opened fire on the Militech employee’s as they started to go for their iron. Panam was the first to take advantage of the situation and grabbed the iron that was dropped and tossed me an AR and shotgun while she had a tech precision rifle. After disconnecting, she and I jumped behind solid cover and proceeded to aid in eliminating Militechs security leaving non alive but Mr. Blue Eyes and Dr. O’Dimm. As I approached the wounded pair, Mr. Blue Eyes pulled out a revolver and was preparing to shoot me when I heard to tall tell whistle of a bullet and the heat that it left as it zoomed past me and ended Mr. Blue Eyes life without much effort. Looking at Panam, she was just as confused as I was until I looked over towards the cloning machine and standing there with a pistol was non other than Johnny Silverhand.

“V, Panam, we’ve gotta go, Alt cannot keep the security protocol under her control for long.” Johnny said as I looked at him and noticed that his right arm was missing.

 **“V and Johhny, consider this a gift, but now I must retreat back to beyond the black wall; however, my last gift to you has already been delivered.”** Alt said as an explosion rocked the room adjacent to the medical room.

 **"One more thing; Mr. Blue Eyes was but a pawn for the leader of the rogue AI. To kill the head, you need to take down Saburo Arasaka, he's managed to cheat death and has been leading the rogue AI since 2050."** Alt said before de-materializing.

“V, let’s delta the fuck outta here.” Johnny said as we went through the doors where the explosion happened and saw a Delemain AV waiting for us with the doors opened and River Ward holding a rocket launcher. All three of us made a made dash to the AV and managed to get onboard and away before Militech security could do anything. It was also a good idea for Alt to disable the security cams long enough for the AV to get into position, retrieve us and fly away. With luck, we would be able to get far enough away before NCPD could activate MAXTAC and their aerial squad as well.

“Well, isn’t this interesting; Johnny Silverhand in the flesh.” Came the calm and collected voice of Rogue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how do you feel about that turn of events?


End file.
